


I'll Be Your Trikova in the Dark

by RealistTash



Category: The 100 (TV), clexa - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bear - Freeform, Clexa, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Humor, It was too long, Minor Violence, Nightbloods can transform into their spirit animal, Other(s) - Freeform, Set from 1x01, Sorry for the clumpy formatting of the summary, Spirit Animals, eagle - Freeform, for now, genetic mutation, owl - Freeform, panther
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 01:05:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 44,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9795428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealistTash/pseuds/RealistTash
Summary: Science is a miraculous thing. It's facts and figures. It's something you can see in front of you. It's physical. It's an infinite number of atoms clashing together to create everything in existence. It's proof... Religion is a state of mind. It's people coming together. It's a set of rules for a group to follow. It's spiritual. It's a peace that there is something more out there, something that science cannot explain. It's belief.If you were to ask Anya why the Nightbloods' are capable of transforming into their inner animal, she would tell you it is a gift from the Spirit. The selected few chosen to protect their people; whether that be with large wings scouting the sky, able to see a potential threat from miles away or soft, silent paws tracking seamlessly through the forest... If you were to ask Raven why the Nightbloods' are capable of transforming into their inner animal, she would tell you that the radiation from the nuclear war caused a genetic mutation in order to adapt and live in new surroundings. She'd tell you it was evolution.Really, Clarke just wants to know why this random panther with bright yellow and green eyes keeps following her. And why that particular shade of green seems so familiar.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this got stuck in my head and wouldn't leave.

“Heda, I will not permit you to leave. We do not know what this new threat brings. Send riders, scout the area. They have already destroyed one of our villages with weapons we know nothing of, I will not have you risk your life-”

Lexa raises her hand, silencing the room, though it speaks louder than the voice that occupied it mere seconds ago. “You do not permit me, Titus?” Standing, she strides over to the other occupant stood stoic next to him, rage clear on her face, lips down in a scowl. “Onya, this village was under your care, what say you?”

The fire in Anya's eyes makes Lexa worry that her general will be blinded in her need for revenge, and she lets out a breath of relief when she studies them further, noting the strategist inside her wins out over the warrior, “this attack was like nothing we have ever seen, Lexa. That weapon, even the Maunon do not wield weapons as destructive as this. I agree with you, we should send Aden-”

“Aden is-”

“Ready,” Lexa snarls, “he has been practising his shift for months and has already proven himself more than capable of controlling it. Enough, Titus.” She looks back at Anya, “get Aden and meet me in the woods, this will not go unpunished.”

Nodding, Anya heads out of the room, and Lexa barely has time to open her mouth, “Lexa, please.”

Placing her hand on his shoulder, she smiles softly. “I appreciate your concern, Titus, but this is why I was chosen. This is why all Nitblidas' are chosen. You will stay behind and gather an army, but do not let the people cause a riot in their fear. We need not involve the other clans until we know how dangerous this new threat is. I will be scouting the woods through to Tondisi and I will have Indra send word when we figure things out.”

“Sha, Heda. Ste yuj.”

She gazes fondly for just a moment watching Aden listen attentively to what Anya is telling him, and hears his panic the closer she gets, “but what about Omiya? She has been practising her shift for much longer than I have. Or Zeke? His owl is fast.”

“Aden,” Lexa cuts in, ignoring Anya's smirk as his back suddenly stiffens and head bows, “Amaya's shift is unpredictable, she is not ready, and it is still day for a few more hours, Zeke's owl is built for night. But regardless of those, you are ready, Aden. You have picked up control of you shift faster than any of the Nitblidas' that have come of age for their predator. You are fast. You are strong. You can do this.”

Stripping down to his boxers and taking a deep breath through his nose and closing his eyes, Aden concentrates on his shift, wincing slightly as his bones contort, arms spreading to a wingspan of two meters, toenails growing into sharp talons, eyes squinting into a whirl of gold and blue and a final squeak permeating through his beak.

The sound has Anya laughing and he turns to face her and glares, “that sound is so pathetic from such a fierce bird, you sound like a seagull and a dolphin bred and created this strange mating call.” She calms herself quickly when Lexa's glare joins Aden's but can't contain one last comment, “you also might want to make sure you don't face anything, bald eagles are much more attractive from the side, kid.” 

She stumbles back slightly as Aden's wings spread and chest puffs out, flying up to a branch above to tower over her and looks at Lexa. “This is a scouting mission only, Aden. I need you to see what we're facing and how many. As soon as you have the information we need fly back to TonDC, Anya will be riding ahead so Indra will know of our appearance. I'll be tracking on the ground to make sure you don't get yourself shot,” she winks to lighten the mood a little, “and remember, Aden, you are not to shift in front of anyone who isn't Anya, Indra or myself. Are we clear?”

Aden lets out another squawk before using the branch to thrust off of, the force of his thighs shaking it. Anya mounts her horse after she picks up Aden's clothes, all traces of teasing gone as her voice deepens, “I'll be in TonDC within the hour to set up a tent just outside of the perimeter.” She waits until Lexa has stripped off, taking her clothes also, and looks her over in concern, showing a rare affection, “don't do anything stupid, I'd rather my meat tonight not be your reckless panther.” 

“Would you prefer eagle?” Lexa smirks, watching Anya roll her eyes and she looks out into the forest. “Race you to the split track? I'll even give you a head start.”

Anya doesn't wait around to see Lexa effortlessly change from smooth skin to soft, black fur, sharp claws and pointed teeth as she races off, knowing it won't be long until Lexa runs past her. It hasn't even been a minute when a loud roar startles her horse and a dark blur whizzes past her, causing her to grumble, “I hate it when she does that.”

The forest feels like home, it's freeing as she feels her paws navigate on soft earth through the trees, maxing out her speed before she slows to a stealth when she sees Aden circling the air above her. She climbs high in a tree close to the wreckage, the scent of sweat, metal, burning and something unknown invading her nose and her panther growls at the foreign smell. 

She watches a large group of what appear to be no older than teenagers celebrating around a fire, but it's the small group of five off to the side that piques her interest, so she moves silently from tree to tree until she is close enough to hear them. “You can't just go wandering off, Octavia, we don't know what's out there.”

“There's nothing out there, Clarke. That's why we were sent on this suicide mission.” The one Lexa now knows is called Octavia sighs in frustration, “I've been in a cage my whole life, I refuse to be in one now. If you don't want to come with me then that's your choice, but I'm going to go and see what the world has to offer.” 

“I'll go with you, Octavia,” one of the boys speaks up.

“Well if Jasper's going, I'm going.” The next.

“Yeah, c'mon, Princess, it'll be fun.” Something doesn't sit right with Lexa looking at the last boy that speaks. Her panther is growling softly and she wills it to keep quiet.

She looks back at Clarke, the girl's eyes flitting between the four in front of her and back to the fire where the rest seems to be throwing something on their wrists into an open fire at an older boy's demand. “Fine,” she huffs, “but if we die I'm going to kill you.” 

Octavia grins wide, quietly moving away from the camp as the others follow. Lexa's torn between following the small group or keeping a eye on the large one, but when she turns to see who she assumes is their leader by the way he was ordering everyone around arguing with somebody holding a small knife that he cannot even handle properly, she shrugs. If they all end up killing themselves it's one less thing she has to deal with. She follows Clarke. The small group. She follows the small group.

Tracking them is far too easy for her, they are loud. Very loud. And they smell. She's light on her paws, intrigued by what they will do, watching in perplexity at the amazed looks gracing their features as they take in the scenery. “This is amazing.” It's a whisper from Clarke, so light the others don't seem to hear it but she catches the words as though she were standing next to her. 

She follows them for over an hour until they reach a lake. An infested lake, Lexa knows, having the pleasure of Anya bringing her here during her training. She wore a necklace of the creature's teeth for a month after she killed it, until Anya took her to her next survival mission and she pouted after a wolf ripped it from around her neck. The fur almost made up for it.

She watches as one by one they head into the water, but as Clarke stands on the edge, her panther moves into an attack position, paw pads and claws gently kneading the ground, hind legs tense, breaths slow and deliberate and she waits, ready to pounce at the closest sign of danger. The boy she already doesn't like makes fun of her before shooting out of the water and pulling Clarke in and Lexa jumps, barely managing to stop herself in time as Clarke emerges, spluttering and laughing, pushing at the boy playfully, “Finn, you asshole.” 

Finn.

Finn.

She doesn't like it. 

“Princess, live a little would you?” His lopsided grin annoys her. “Relax, doesn't this feel amazing?” He runs his hand along the surface, watching the ripples under it and Lexa sees Clarke loosen up, a soft smile appearing on her lips. Lexa takes this moment to look up, the sky beginning to darken and she knows Aden is long gone but movement in the water catches her eyes and she readies herself again, prepared to attack. The five in the water notice also and start to scramble out, suddenly panicked, but Octavia seems to be stuck on something, struggling to get out as it moves closer to her but before Lexa has the chance to decide if she should help or not, the boy, Jasper, manages to grab her, the creature's teeth clamping around nothing but air just a split-second later.

It's silent for a moment until Octavia is the first to laugh, the others joining in closely after and Clarke speaks up, “we should probably head back.” Agreeing, they file out, but Clarke stays, “I'm going to grab everything, you lot go on, I'll catch up in a minute.” Octavia, Jasper and the yet to be named boy shrug and walk off, leading Lexa to believe that they aren't at all close to each other, but Finn lingers. Clarke rolls her eyes, and Lexa smiles on the inside, “Finn, I'll be fine, go on.” Clarke stares him down until his shoulders slump and he jogs to catch up with the other three.

Lexa stays, watches. She watches Clarke pack up her stuff into a bag before looking up at the sky, simultaneously clawing at the wrist with the strange device the others have, and twirling a watch around her other wrist gently. There's something different now, about the scent, it still holds that metallic, sweaty smell, but now that Clarke is on her own, there's something almost fresh, like the transition of winter to spring, and Lexa finds herself moving forward instinctively to get a stronger sniff.

She curses her panther for being such a... cub, when a twig snaps beneath her paw and Clarke twirls around, squinting her eyes in the dark. Lexa's frozen as Clarke cautiously moves towards the sound, she's frozen as Clarke stands two metres in front of her, unable to see properly in the dark, but Lexa's heightened eyesight lets her see Clarke clearly, and when her eyes meet ocean blue ones, she's frozen as Clarke gasps and stumbles back. 

Lexa moves into the moonlight slowly, her posture as least threatening as possible and she sniffs the air. She sits on her back legs, tail wrapping around to her front, patient. Clarke's head tilts, looking at her curiously, moving to sit in front of her and her hand lifts, reaching out. Lexa lets her. 

Clarke's hand hovers just above her fur, stilling. Lexa glances at it, and she can't resist moving her head that inch to connect causing Clarke to gasp again, this time in awe. “Oh my god,” she whispers softly, beginning to stroke the soft fur between Lexa's ears. 

It doesn't last long, she hears somebody stomping through the quiet long before Clarke hears the shout of her name. Lexa pulls back to stand in front of her, growling loudly at the intruder, recognising the whiny voice as Finn's. 

Clarke strokes down her back, “it's okay, they're friends.” 

Lexa looks back to her, then back to the direction Finn is coming from, then back the Clarke again. She growls gently, so low that if she were genetically able to do so, it could be passed off as a purr, nudges Clarke's hand with her head once, half to move it out of the way, and jumps up to a branch at least fifteen feet above her. Finn is close, frantically looking around and shouting Clarke's name and she breaks eye contact with Clarke in a huff, she lets out a large roar in his direction to let him know where she is.

She doesn't stay to see the outcome.

The run back to TonDC is quick, she is less worried about stealth and more about speed, breaths panting out harsh, berating her panther every step of the way, berating herself for losing control of her inner cub, but the need to protect, it's stronger than she's every felt. She sneaks past Indra's guards comfortably and into the back of the tent Anya has set up. 

Indra is facing away from her, hand on sword, back straight, looking out the tent flap at the front, Aden is resting with a book, and Anya is pacing back and forth mumbling about how irresponsible and irrational and infuriating and whatever else Lexa is. 

Lexa pounces on her the next time she turns around, pinning her to the bed and licking her face. “Get. Off. Me!” Lexa shifts back to her human form, still laying atop Anya. “Gross, Lexa, you're naked, get off!” Lexa chuckles, grabbing her clothes and putting them on in record time. “Where the hell have you been?”

“You weren't worried were you?” Smirking, Lexa sits next to Aden, who is torn between looking confused and scared at his Heda acting playful. Indra is fearing no better. “I was tracking.”

“You've been gone for hours, Lexa,” Anya scolds, “hours.” 

Lexa nods, “yes, well, tracking takes time, Anya. You know this.” Anya's brow raises, and as if a bucket of cold water was poured over her head, Lexa remembers why she was doing this is the first place. She clears her throat, the mask of the Commander firmly back on her face. She turns to Aden, “what did you find out?”

“There are ninety-seven of them in total. I counted six times because I got ninety-two a couple of counts, but it turns out five of them moved to the lake.” Lexa nods at him to continue. “I got low enough to see them taking something off of their wrists and burning them, it seems as though whatever it was, was important as they were being bribed with the promise of food and freedom. There was one person, Belomi, I think, that they all seemed to be listening to. But honestly, Lexa, it seemed like they thought they were the only people in the world.” 

“Yes I found that too. One of the girls mentioned that this was a suicide mission, but I am unsure of what she meant exactly, and the way they acted towards each other tells me that they hardly even know one another. They were turning, fighting for control of the group. It was indeed strange. They do not possess the same weaponry as the Maunon, however; the bands around their wrist that Aden mentioned and the thing that they landed in are definitely nothing like we have seen before. The clothes they wear, the way in which they act, talk-” She swallows hard shaking her head, looking to Anya, “I do not believe that they are from here. I do not believe that this was an attack.” 

Anya scoffs, “so what, you are saying this was an accident?” 

“Sha.”

“They destroyed one of my villages, Lexa. They deserve to die of a thousand cuts each.” Anya stands again, pacing.

Lexa sighs, “Aden, Indra, may Anya and I have a moment?” She waits until they leave, standing also, “Anya, I understand you are mad-”

“Mad? That's an understatement.”

“We could not see any weaponry on them, but that does not mean they do not have it inside, we need to be cautious. They do not know we exist, we need to investigate them further.” 

Anya deflates, not looking to Lexa as her Heda, but as her friend, “so what do you suggest we do?”

Lexa moves outside the tent, Anya behind her, glad to see that Indra and Aden stayed to keep guard, “Indra,”she starts, “Anya, Aden and I will be staying for a few days. I want you to send your most trusted scouts out to keep an eye on these newcomers, but do not engage. We do nothing until we know they are a threat. With the way that they were acting, hopefully they will take themselves out before we have to step in. The coalition is still fragile, we cannot risk another war, not with the Mountain Men still out there.”

Indra looks towards her with apprehension, but nods, “sha, Heda. And if they do become a threat?”

“If any of them are caught with a weapon that seems threatening, or it looks like they will seemingly attack,” she breathes in, long and steady, closing her eyes, “kill them.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of the comments/kudos/bookmarks etc. I'm glad you're enjoying this, I'll try to be better at getting back to you after this chapter.

Lexa stares from her favoured vantage point, the tree in the perfect position to not be seen herself, but observe and hear the teenagers below her. 

She's bored. 

In three days she has done little more than watch them fight for power among themselves and half-ass attempt to capture wild life for food. 

She's watched the now named Monty Green secretly playing with the few wrist devices that have not been burned, trying to get word out to their people still in the sky while Jasper Jordan stands uselessly next to him, constantly eating the nuts Lexa knows send people on a high. She doesn't see the need to find a way to warm him that they are slowly poisoning him. She's seen Octavia Blake constantly disappear and reappear from the camp when her brother, the self-proclaimed leader they call Bellamy, is too busy controlling them all and making his way around all of the girls to notice between fights with John Murphy. She's witnessed a young girl who goes by the name of Charlotte spiral in self hate for losing her parents- she admittedly feels slightly guilty for eavesdropping on that conversation. 

And Clarke? Well she is always flanked by one of two boys. The first, a boy called Wells Jaha, a seemingly nice boy trying to rekindle a lost friendship. Why? She knows yet not. And the other, Finn. 

Yes, they have crafted weapons in their attempt to hunt, which is going very poorly, but they still do not seem threatening to her. 

They have built a perimeter out of metal from their wreckage and other things they have found in the woods, but it is in no way stable. 

It's not until the fourth day that her stomach drops and heart leaps to her throat. 

“I am so sick of your shit, Bellamy!” Her attention moves from Clarke to the argument, ears piqued in interest. “Why do you get to be leader? There are people much more capable then you.”

“Murphy you'd better stand down. You've already proven you can't beat me in a fight.” Bellamy laughs loud, mocking, “when are you going to realise that I can do whatever the hell I want?” 

Lexa itches to step in when she sees Clarke make her way over to stand between them, “that's enough, Bell. You want to play Chancellor? Fine. Then play the part properly. We're all starving, cold, we need to survive. This isn't a vacation. It isn't a game. If we don't find a way to bring the rest of the Ark down-”

“That's not happening, Clarke.” He glances around the camp, frowning when he notices his followers. “Guys, we can do anything we want down here. The world is ours. No adults, no authority-”

“Except yours right?” 

He frowns, “O-”

“No, Bellamy. You say that we're free, but you're acting just like them,” she points to the sky, “acting like you're in charge, but nobody actually asked for that.” 

His face clouds over, voice raising, “fine. You know what, why don't we put it to a vote? Anybody who wants to bring the Ark down, the adults, the rules, the people who put you in prison and sent you to Earth to die, go stand with Clarke. Anybody who wants to actually live, stand with me.” He bends down next to Clarke's ear, and Lexa strains to hear what he says to her, “and , Princess, if I win, I will be taking that wrist band off of you, one way or another.”

A few tense moments pass, and Lexa growls low when the majority stand with Bellamy. Clarke's face falls, “you're not having it, Bell.” 

Bellamy laughs again, dark, menacing. For the first time in a long time, Lexa feels anxious, “I'm so glad you said that.” He pulls out a small hand gun from his boot, aiming it straight at Clarke, and Lexa's growl echoes through the small camp. Clarke's gaze shoots to the trees, but the others are too busy gasping and standing back to notice. “You know, I was hiding this, saving it for an emergency, but now seems as good a time as any. Give me the wrist band, Clarke.” 

Lexa jumps down, slipping through a gap in the wall, moving to stand behind a cover behind Bellamy, ready for attack. Clarke somehow catches her gaze, as if trying to warn her not to do anything. “No.” Lexa isn't sure if Clarke is saying that to her or him. “You want it? Kill me. Take it. It'll be the last thing you do.”

Smirking, he moves his finger to the trigger, but before Lexa has the chance to move, Octavia stands in front of Clarke, “Bell, please. You don't want to do this.”

“Move, O!”

“No. You're not a murderer, Bellamy.” Bellamy's eyes shift from one side to the other until he finally spends a tense few seconds looking into Octavia's pleading eyes and lowers his gun.

“Fine. But you better get the hell out of my site, Griffin. You're not welcome here anymore. Anyone who decides to go with this traitor, you have five minutes. Don't think this is the only gun I have.” 

Slumping her shoulders, Clarke holds back her tears, her blue eyes turning darker in anger as she turns to stomp away. Lexa moves back through the gap, padding along the edge of the wall but stops short when she sees Clarke doesn't leave alone. She hears Octavia and Bellamy arguing in the background, him forcing her to stay, but Lexa knows she will just sneak out later tonight. “Monty, you have to stay, you have to find a way to bring down the Ark, I'll find a way to contact you once I find somewhere to sleep.”

“You can't just go out there alone, Clarke.”

“She won't be alone.” Lexa rolls her eyes. Finn. “I'll be with her.”

“Me too.” She smiles hearing Wells' voice.

Clarke huffs, “thanks, but no thanks.” 

“Monty is right, Clarke,” Wells says, “you can't be out there alone. There are dangerous animals. Anything could happen. I know you hate me, and I understand, but we're better in numbers.” Clarke growls out a 'fine'. 

“I'm coming too.”

“You are not.” 

“Clarke, please-”

“You need to be here, Charlotte. It's safer, surprisingly. I can't risk you.” 

Charlotte rolls her eyes, “I'm just going to follow you anyway.”

Wells steps forward, placing his hand on Charlotte's arm and Lexa doesn't fail to notice the way she flinches back from it, “I'll protect her. I'll protect you both.”

“I don't need your protection, Wells.” Clarke takes a deep breath, picking up a bag near her and slinging it over her shoulder, “we need to leave now, if you're coming, get what you can, I'm not waiting because you forgot something.” Finn, Wells and Charlotte rush to pack their things together and Clarke turns to Monty once more, “I'm counting on you, Monty. Don't let Bellamy find out what you're up to.”

He nods just as the other three come back out of the gate, “may we meet again.”

Lexa runs.

TonDC is quiet upon her return, most of her scouts are still around the Sky People's camp, observing, waiting. And now, Lexa realises, they have something to be waiting for. The tent is empty when she gets back, shifting easily and redressing before going to find Anya and Aden. It doesn't take long to find the two sat with Indra, eating. “You may have your revenge, Anya.”

Anya looks up at her, brows furrowed, “Heda?”

Lexa moves her head to the direction of the tent, and when they have privacy she turns to Aden. “I need you to fly back to Polis, Aden. Bring Zeke back with you, we need his night eye, and tell Titus to ready the army. Be sure that Gustus is leading them. We need them here by nightfall.” Aden tilts his head in a single nod, shifting more easily after constantly switching back and fourth over the past days, working more closely with Anya now he's alone. Lexa can't help a small, proud smile. She addresses Anya and Indra. “As I was tracking today, the one they call Bellamy pulled a gun.”

“They same weapons the Maunon wield.”

“Sha, Indra. He mentioned that, that is not the only one in his possession. I'm unsure if he was lying, but we cannot take such risks. If the Mountain Men get to them first, they may find an ally capable of being in our air. They act very similar to them also. That does not sit well with me. My warriors from Polis will set up camp a mile away, we do not wish to intrude on your village. I will not put innocent lives in danger if I can avoid it.” Indra bows her head respectively. “Gather your warriors, only those who are willing-”

“My village will always fight for you, Heda.”

“Mochof, but these people are untrained, weak. My army should be plenty, but if they are not, if they do have more weapons, that is when I need yours. Have Nyko and your other healers ready also. Hopefully I will not actually need them. Bring them to the war tent when Gustus arrives.” 

Indra leaves the tent and Anya turns to face her, “and what of me, Lexa?”

Biting her lip, Lexa moves her gaze to the ground, relaxing her stance, “I have a special mission for you. There was one Skaikru outcast by her people. She, a young girl and two boys' are wandering the forest alone. I would like you to bring them here.” 

“Lexa.”

“She is a leader, Anya. They can provide intel on their camp and I would prefer them to not stray within Maunon reach.”

Anya studies her with hard eyes for a minute and Lexa twiddles her thumbs nervously in a futile attempt to keep her composure, but then Anya softly sighs, “oh, Lexa. I knew that reckless panther of yours was going to get you into trouble one day.” 

Lexa looks up, the tension in her shoulders deflating slightly when she sees Anya's amused smirk, “thank you, Anya. I do not believe that they are all a need for worry, certainly not these. I'd like for word to not spread on this, we need not cause more concern than there already is. Charlotte, the young girl, she is haunted, I think pairing her with Tris may be good for her. Wells Jaha, he seems very smart and invested in bringing his people to Earth. We could potentially work with him, see if there is a way to bring them down without causing damage to our people.”

“If these people are like the Maunon, is helping them bring the others down the wisest choice of action?” Anya's voice is not accusing, but it is reserved, and Lexa understands.

She begins pacing, “there is one thing we all have in common. Us, the other clans, the Mountain Men, the Skaikru. We all have one common goal- to keep our people safe. These people have family up there. We can find a way to negotiate. The children down here are immature, brass, careless. Dangerous. There are others working to contact the sky and if they do, they will be coming down regardless of our actions. The best we can hope is that we can form a treaty before that happens.” 

“So why don't we just kill these people?”

“We are not savages, Anya.”

Anya rolls her eyes, “and the other two?”

“Finn,” Lexa squints her eyes, “he is useless, you may kill him if you so wish.” Anya laughs. “Clarke, I would like her to be brought straight to me.”

Giving her one last, long look, Anya relents, “I will stand by any decision you make, Lexa. But I hope you know what you're doing.”

-

“I do not agree with this plan, Heda,” Quint speaks up, “why do we not just kill them all? If they are in possession of such weapons not one of them can be trusted.”

“I'm with Quint,” another says, “you say their home will come down if they make contact, why risk that?”

Lexa locks her jaw, “their home may come down anyway. I've been listening to them for days. They are running out of air in the sky. If that happens and they fall, how do you think they will react when they find out we wiped out their people? If one boy has a gun, what do they have up there? If one boy is capable of getting nearly a hundred people to follow him with just a few words of freedom, what power do those that are already in charge possess?” She looks around the room. “What happens when they come down, and side with the mountain because we killed their children? I understand why you are all worried, but this plan stays. We kill anyone who tries to attack us, and we bring those who don't back for questioning. Their technology is smart, it could be useful for us.” 

“And then what of them, Heda?” Gustus cuts in, his support shadowed by his gruff voice if you didn't know him.

“We find out what we can, and we decide what to do from there. I'm sure we can all agree that another war will distract us from getting our people back from the mountain, it is time we do not have.” Lexa sees Anya come into the ten out of the corner of her eye, gesturing for her to follow. “Discuss your plans of attack, I will be back shortly.” She waits until they are out of earshot before speaking with Anya, “you were a long time.”

Anya snarls, “yes, well your sky friends did not come easy. The ones you call Finn and Well Jaha are in a holding cell for now. They have food, water and blankets, honestly they probably wouldn't have survived the night's chill. Charlotte is asleep, Tris is watching over her and Clarke is in your quarters as requested.” She opens Lexa's tent and Lexa glares at her when she sees Clarke bound with a bag over her hand. Anya raises her hands in surrender, “you said to bring them here, Heda, you did not specify how.”

Shaking her head, Lexa dismisses her, “please keep the meeting under control, tensions are running high and we all need to be in agreement before tomorrow morning.” Lexa can here the heavy pants through the cloth over Clarke's head, and the guilt makes her swallow hard, fingers almost shaking as she uncovers her face. The fear, anger, shock and confusion swirls around in Clarke bright blue eyes. “I'm sorry, Anya is not the most subtle person. She was not meant to bring you in like this.”

Clarke grunts, the rope around her wrists uncomfortable and Lexa is quick to take them off, pulling away the cloth around her mouth shorty after, “my friends. Are they-”

“They are fine. They have food, water and shelter.”

“Why?”

“Excuse me?”

Clarke stands, rubbing at her wrist and dusting off her clothes, glaring at Lexa, “why are we here? Who are you? We thought Earth was uninhabited.”

Lexa smiles, “my apologies. My name is Leksa kom Trikru, Commander of the twelve clans. And as you can see, it is very much inhabited.” 

“That's great, Lexa,” she starts sarcastically, “why am I here?”

Smile faltering, Lexa frowns, “my people have been keeping an eye on your camp since you landed. You destroyed one of my villages. There are multiple bodies under your so-called drop ship-”

“You've been spying on us?”

“Of course. We needed intel on your people to conclude whether you were a threat to us or not.”

“And what was your conclusion, Commander?”

Lexa tilts her head, her mask slowly slipping on, “I brought you here to keep you safe. You and your friends would not have lasted the night in the woods alone. There are more dangers out there than you could possibly imagine. People that would've killed you on the spot. Animals that would've torn you limb from limb to feed. Some just for sport.”

Clarke scoffs, “why do you care if I'm safe?”

“Some of my people want revenge for the village-”

“That was an accident, we didn't even know there were people living here until a bag was put over my head and I was dragged here.” 

“I am aware. Some of my people do not care of the logistics. But we should move forward from that. I believe that our people could work together. Your technology is impressive, it could be useful to us if we knew how to use it.”

Clarke studies her, frowning, as if she's trying to click pieces together but can't get them to quite fit. She opens her mouth to speak, but before she does, Zeke and Aden make their appearance known, “Heda, oso don a problem.” Aden gave Lexa a puzzled look noticing Clarke in the room with her.

Lexa smiles again at Clarke, “I have to step out for one moment, please,” she gestures to the table full of meats and fruit and water and smiles wider when she hears Clarke's stomach grumble, “feel free to help yourself to anything you wish. There is also a bath in the back filled with warm water, I will be back momentarily.”

She heads to step outside the tent, but Clarke stops her, “my name's Clarke, by the way.”

Smirking, Lexa rolls her eyes, “I know. I've been spying on you, remember?” 

Stepping outside, she motions for Aden to go first. “Lexa, Bellamy found more guns. I was doing a standard scouting mission and noticed he broke away from the camp. He found a bunker to the east, there is a crate full of them,” he starts in a whisper.

“And it gets worse,” Zeke continues sheepishly, coiling back from Lexa's locked jaw, “I followed one of the girls from the camp, she ran straight to one of our gonas', he told her to stay away from the camp tomorrow, he told her our plan, but she said she couldn't let her brother die and went back to warn him. They know we are going to attack.”

“Bellamy was handing out guns to everyone as we came back to warn you.”

Lexa's fists clench, “Zeke, I want you following Octavia, the girl who was with one of our warriors'. She is your sole mission now, understood? I want you to find out who betrayed us.” He nods, shifting fast and flying off. “Aden, get some rest, I need your eyes in the sky tomorrow.”

She stalks off to the war tent, practically ripping open the fabric, and growls when all eyes turn on her.

“Our plans have changed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're still building things up, but there will be a really cute Clarke/Panther!Lexa section coming up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagined a young Jason Momoa when writing Luca. Obviously feel free to imagine who you'd like, I won't often go into major details when writing an OC for that reason, maybe a hair or eye colour- nothing too specific, but he was the first person that popped into my head. As for Zeke- Levi Miller and Amaya when I eventually write her in- Storm Reid
> 
> Also, I call bullshit on any pet owners who say they haven't asked their pet if they understand them.

Clarke hadn't initially intended on eavesdropping, but at the hushed whispers from outside the tent 'guns, Bellamy, betrayed, attack', she couldn't help herself. 

She forgoes the food Lexa had laid out for her, even though her stomach is clenching uncontrollably at the smell of herbs from the meat and sweet scent of the fruit. She ignores the jug of water even though her mouth feels like sandpaper. She leaves the warm water to go cold in the bath even though she can feel her body temperature dropping in the rapidly cooling night. 

One thing she can say about the Ark is that the climate control was always the same, none of them would be able to adjust quickly to anything that wasn't warm, dry and ventilated. 

She waits until the two young boys are out of her sight, and she swears one minute one of them were still in her vision but a second later when she looks back he seems to have disappeared. 

Clarke doesn't think much of it.

After briefly taking in her surroundings, camp fires lighting paths, tents set up leading to what appears to be a small village and a few large men with man-made weapons patrolling the streets, she follows Lexa to the tent set up in the centre, and she hears the raised voices from inside. 

At first she can't distinguish who is saying what, all she hears are angry words of 'kill, traitor, revenge, war', until one voice rises above the rest and a sudden silence follows.

“Em pleni!” It's Lexa. Her tone is low, dangerous, and Clarke puts this foreign language in the back of her mind to wonder how that voice is the same one she witnessed privately not ten minutes ago. “The Skaikru now know we exist, and still they harbour guns, this is officially an act of war. No Sky Person carrying a weapon shall go unpunished for this and if anybody stands in your way kill them. But, bring Bellamy Blake to me alive. Indra, when we find out who our natrona is, bring him back to me alive also.” 

Clarke runs.

She's out of breath by the time she reaches an overhang in the forest, still stunned by the beauty that nature has to offer. She knows she hasn't made it far from the camp, can still hear the rustling of villagers, but it's enough that she can think. Another thing the Ark was good for, the oxygen circulating made it much easier to breath when exercising. Well, she assumes, never being one for the act. 

Her head rolls up to the sky and she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath, “what do I do, dad? What would you do?” 

-

Lexa knows Clarke followed her. She can sense her presence, the smell of fresh air lingering among the earthy smell of the room she's in. Her panther growls at her in her need to protect when she hears Clarke run away. “Ryder, you will lead beta team to cause a diversion. Stay hidden in the trees, draw their aim to you but stay out of their line of fire. Gustus, you will lead alpha team, bring me Bellamy Blake at whatever cost. Indra, you have your orders.” She shares a look with Anya, but gives no orders to her General, “they are expecting us to attack tomorrow and I can guarantee that they are already practising with their weapons, so you leave. Right now. I will be setting up a blockade around the village, with so many of our people gone, we are leaving ourselves vulnerable to an attack from the Maunon.”

“Heda-”

“I am the one leaving your village weak, Indra. I will be the one to make sure it is protected.” 

“Then please, let me leave Luca here, he is our best archer.”

Lexa smiles softly at the way his chest puffs in pride at the compliment, “very well. Mochof, Indra.” She waits as they file out, leaving only herself, Anya and Luca in the tent. She turns to the young man first, “check the perimeter, I want somebody stationed at every opening of this camp and as many pairs as you have walking the woods as far as the acid fog allows.”

“Sha, Heda.”

Anya glares at her after he leaves, “I am not your personal assistant, Lexa.” She sighs when Lexa stares her down, “who now?”

Lexa smiles, “Monty Green. He works in an area closest to the main gate. I'd like him and any technology he needs to stay safe. Preferably not gagged and blindfolded,” she gives a pointed look at Anya, “Zeke is following Octavia Blake so if you do see her outside of her camp, refrain from tracking her, I need her to find out who our traitor is.”

Anya folds her arms and raises her eyebrows, “Clarke was listening in.” Lexa nods, eyes wide in shock. “You may have heightened senses, but she was not at all subtle. I do not believe anyone else noticed. Be careful with her, Lexa. Do not let your panther dominate your emotions.”

“I am fully capable of controlling her, Onya.”

“You know I do not agree with Titus, love is not weakness, but it can cause you to make stupid decisions. Your people come first, remember that.”

Fists clenching the table, Lexa snarls, “everything I do is for my people! We do not know how many people are on the Ark. I do not want it to come down and start a war we potentially cannot win. If Monty Green can make contact with them, we will not mention this attack, but attempt to form a treaty before they fall. Surely they are mature enough to understand that it is our land they will be invading.”

“I hope you're right.” Anya's parting words are said softly as she makes her way out of the tent, mounting her horse and quickly making her way towards the drop ship before the army arrives. 

Lexa walks back to her tent, shredding her clothes slowly before she shifts, catching Clarke's scent fast to follow her trail. When she arrives at the top of the hill, she sees Clarke sitting back against a tree, eyes closed and breathing deeply with a frown on her face. She pads over quietly and bumps her head against Clarke's shoulder, causing her to jump for a second before her eyes focus in the dark and a smile takes over the frown, “hi, girl.” She brings her hand up to stroke behind Lexa's ear. “How do you keep finding me?”

The question is obviously rhetorical, but Lexa finds herself pushing her head harder against Clarke's hand in way of an answer.

“You know,” Clarke starts, “we were sent here to see if Earth is survivable. It is. Of course it is, I wouldn't be here talking to you if it wasn't, right?” Clarke shakes her head at herself, “whatever, you know what I mean.” She sighs, “so we have these stupid things on our wrists that show the Ark that we're still alive, but the problem is, the only person that still has one is me. So my mom knows I'm alive, but everybody else, well they're dead to their families, so they probably think it's because of radiation or something and my mom's expecting me to die any minute.”

Clarke shuffles down the tree so her shoulders are on the ground and Lexa takes the opportunity to lay her head on Clarke's stomach, content to listen to her speak.

“I don't know what Bellamy's deal is, but there's something more to this whole 'we're free' bullshit he's spouting, and Monty. Monty, bless him, took his wristband off to try to use it to contact the Ark so his mom thinks he's dead and this whole thing is just an absolute nightmare. And if that wasn't enough, we've just found out that we aren't the only humans alive. How fucked up is that?” Clarke's only response is a huff from the panther and she chuckles slightly to herself. “And this Lexa, Miss 'Commander of the Twelve Clans', like what does that even mean? I don't know who the hell she thinks she is-”

Lexa lets out a shallow growl and Clarke looks taken back for a second before chuckling again.

“You know her then, huh? So yeah, now she wants to attack the camp and I don't know what to do. Do I try and talk her out of it? Do I not get involved? Do I go back and stand with my people?” She sighs in frustration, “and then there's Wells and my dad and my mom, and Finn won't leave me alone-” Lexa growls louder this time, “yeah I don't like him either. I just, I don't know what to do anymore. I just wish I could go back to before everything went to shit. Everything is happening so fast.” 

Clarke seems to catch herself and stares long at Lexa.

“And now I'm talking to an animal that can't even understand me.” Clarke studies her for a second, “you can't understand me, right?” Lexa just lifts her head and cocks it to one side. “God, who am I kidding? Of course you can't. If the others could see me now they'd probably have me floated.” 

She knows Clarke is joking to try and play off all the emotions she's feeling, but all Lexa can see is the underlining sadness and she stands suddenly, an idea springing to mind. She tugs at Clarke's jacket with her teeth, hinting at her to get up and follow and she smiles inwardly when Clarke does, a look of pure confusion taking over her features. 

It takes a few minutes, but before she knows it Clarke is surrounded by a sea of neon blue. She quickly realises that it's caused by radiation, but every inch of her is itching to draw this. She watches the panther make her way over to a what appears to be a bush, but as she nudges her nose against it, Clarke startles with a gasp as dozens of butterflies flutter away, one landing on the back of her hand, it's wings gently flapping as it lands. “This is amazing,” she looks back at the panther, her eyes highlighted by the blue around her and it makes her step back, the circle of green around her pupils that lead into yellow exaggerated by the blue hue and she's trying to figure out why that shade of green seems familiar to her but she shakes it off, “thank you for bringing me here. Maybe if the rest could see this, see this part of the world, they wouldn't be so quick to destroy it.” 

Lexa gazes at her as Clarke forms an idea in her head and she winces when Clarke yelps.

“That's it! If I could show them this, show them that's there's more to life than surviving, maybe-, maybe- I need to go and stop Lexa.” She gently places the butterfly down before rushing off in the direction of the camp.

This was not the reaction Lexa was hoping for.

She runs back as fast as she can, swiftly changing into her clothes when she becomes human again and calms her breath just as Clarke storms through the tent flaps, “you can't attack my people, Lexa.”

“Klark kom Skaikru, I thought you to have run away,” she says, calm demeanour in her body language in a hope that her voice won't betray her.

“Cut the crap, Lexa.”

Lexa takes a step back as Clarke strides up to her and her tone lowers, “do you have any idea who you are talking to, Clarke?”

Clarke laughs in her face, “no actually, I don't. But you know what? I don't really care. You haven't even given us time. Time to adjust. Time to experience the world. So Bellamy has a few guns. So what? You know as well as I do that half the people in that camp won't know how to use them.”

“Those weapons are dangerous, Clarke.” Lexa steps forwards now, and she notes with a quirk of her lips the small amount of fear in Clarke's eyes. “I told you that there were people out there who would not think twice about killing you. I was not referring to my own people, but those who use weaponry like the ones Bellamy now has in his possession. Those in Mount Weather-”

Clarke cuts her off, “wait. Mount Weather?” 

“Yes-”

“No, you don't understand. We were sent here to find it. My people believed it would be safe for us and now you're telling me that it's what? Occupied?” 

Lexa already knows this, of course. A small detail she kept to herself from when she was spying on their camp. “Yes. They use the same weapons your people are going to be using to attack us. We have lost thousands to the Maunon. I cannot risk your people becoming like them. They are now a threat.”

“Please, Lexa. Please. Stop the attack. Give me time to fix this.” 

She stares into Clarke's pleading eyes, “I'm sorry, Clarke. My army will be near your base already, there is nothing I can do to stop this.” Lexa watches her deflate, but winces at the pleading in Clarke's eyes changing to anger. “Please,” she gestures to the still full table, “eat. You are safe here. My warriors will not harm anybody that does not stand in the way of their goal. I must go and speak to the one you call Wells Jaha,” Clarke scoffs, “these are the same people that left you to die out in the forest, Clarke. I do not understand why you wish to protect them so.”

“They're still my people.”

Lexa nods once, “the few sacrificed often means the many can thrive. I believe we can find a healthy balance for both of our people once this is over.” Clarke ignores her, staring at the floor and Lexa sees her shiver. “Stay in the tent, Clarke. There are blankets in the corner if you get too cold.”

Making her way down to the holding cells, Lexa clears her throat to announce her presence and Wells runs to the bars as soon as he sees her, “where's Clarke? Charlotte? What did you do to them?”

She holds up her hand, signalling him to be quiet, “calm down, Wells Jaha. Both Clarke and Charlotte are safe.” She unlocks the gate, “come, we have much to discuss.” Wells tilts his head at her, but walks out the gate. Finn follows him and Lexa stops him with a hand on his chest, “you are of no use to me. My people can not know that you are here and I have already taken a risk by not having Clarke and Charlotte locked up. Once everything has quietened down, you will be free to roam as you please, but for now it is in your best interest to stay here. I will have my General set something up for you when she gets back.”

Finn glares at her, sulking into a corner when she re-locks the gate. She motions to Wells to follow her and her shoulders slump in annoyance when she spots Clarke outside of her tent. Wells rushes forward to hug her, but Clarke scowls at him, “Clarke-”

“I told you to stay inside, Clarke,” Lexa interrupts, “were my orders not clear enough for you?”

“Your orders? I'm not one of you, Lexa. You don't give me orders.” She looks between the two, “I'm going for a walk.”

Lexa grabs at her arm, spinning her around and Clarke glowers, “you are not going anywhere, Clarke. Inside.”

Clark sneers, “what? So I'm your prisoner?” 

“No,” Lexa answers in a whisper, “I cannot protect you if I do not know where you are.”

“I don't need your protection.” She rips her arm back, “whatever, just stay away from me. Both of you.” She stomps back to the tent, and the silence is deafening.

“It's not you she's mad at, don't blame her,” Wells states quietly next to her, a longing look at the tent.

Lexa smirks, “oh, she's mad at both of us. So tell me, Wells Jaha, why are you letting her blame you for something you did not do?” 

Wells finally brings his attention to her, confusion written on his face, “I don't unders-”

“You have honest eyes, and you trust too easily. A quality not many possess. You did not once question my plans for you, I could have been leading you to your death, yet you followed willingly.”

“If you were leading me to my death, me questioning you wouldn't have changed the outcome.” 

Lexa laughs softly, “that is true. Trusting so easily can be a person's greatest undoing. Be cautious of whom you put your faith into, there are those who will take advantage of your good nature. So I ask again, why are you letting Clarke blame you?”

He looks back to the tent, his eyes haunted with secrecy, but he takes a long breath, steadying his voice as he looks back at Lexa, “because the truth would destroy her.” 

Lexa doesn't need the full story to understand his reasoning, but she hopes one day Clarke will be willing to tell it. 

A struggle sounding from behind them causes them to turn, and Lexa shows her teeth in a snarl at the familiar man tied and gagged, being pushed along by Indra. “Heda, ai don hon em op. Our natrona.” Indra kicks at the back of his knees, sending him to the floor in a grunt. 

“Lincoln.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, the most underwhelming ending to a chapter ever.


	4. Chapter 4

“Take him to my tent.” Indra follows the order without question, and Lexa would really like Anya to be here in this moment since she knows her planned punishment will not sit well with the TonDC leader. 

Wells frowns in his spot next to her, “what did she say?”

Lexa glances up at him with a deep breath, “Commander, I have found him. Our traitor.”

“What did he do?”

“You will find out soon. Would you like to join me? This accusation is to do with your people after all.”

Wells' frown is still in place even as he follows her through the tent flaps. Taking a quick look around he trails his eyes across the neatly sewn fabric of the tent, the fur rug lining the floor, war table to the side and a wooden spiked throne gracing the head. The whole area brightly lit with candles.

Although the tent is one, it is separated into compartments, as he sees a shadow lurking behind a curtain, a shadow he can only assume is Clarke. Lincoln is sat on his knees in front of the throne, Indra behind him with a sword to the back of his neck, and Lexa stoically makes her way in front of him to sit down, gesturing to Wells at her side by the throne. “Linkon kom Trikru, you have been accused of treachery against your clan, your coalition, your Heda. We were informed that you told one of the Skaikru our planned attack.” She quickly glances to Wells to note the look of confusion on his face at the latter information. “How do you plead?”

Lincoln's eyes beg her as he opens his mouth, “Heda, please-”

“Your Commander asked you a question,” Indra snarls, the tip of her sword lightly cutting the skin on his neck, “you would do well to answer before I kill you where you kneel.”

Lexa raises her right hand, stopping Indra and holds Lincoln's gaze until he crumbles, “guilty, Commander.” 

She hears Clarke shuffle through the back entrance of the tent, and growls to herself that one; she cannot follow her and two; that she disobeyed her again. Her growl intensifies when she hears the familiar voice of Finn, wondering how he has escaped his cell. “Explain.”

Lincoln rises as far as he can on injured knees, voice strong, “I love her.”

“Love?” Indra scoffs, “you don't even know her.” 

Ignoring her, Lincoln maintains eye contact with Lexa, “I know what I did was wrong, Commander, but I would not change my actions if given the opportunity again. I will never be as loyal to you as I will to her, and for that,” he bows his head so he's facing the floor, “ai sonraun ste yun.”

Lexa looks on in silence, watches Indra raise her sword for the final blow, catches Wells turn his head to the side but keeps his eyes focused on the event, hears Clarke and Finn rush off and itches to go after them. “Wells Jaha,” she starts, bringing his attention to her, “how would your people punish this act?” 

Wells clears his throat, trying not to grimace under the look he is receiving from Indra. “On the Ark, if you commit an offence under the age of eighteen, you are sent to prison and you will stand before the Council on your eighteenth birthday for review on whether your crime was serious enough to be floated. If you are an adult, you would be floated straight away for any crime.” 

“Floated?”

“Basically, they would put you in an enclosed airlock room and open a door to space, you die almost instantly from lack of oxygen.”

He looks around to two mortified faces, Lincoln still facing the floor but he can imagine it isn't much different. Lexa clears her throat, “so this treachery would cost you your life?” He nods. “What Lincoln here doesn't know, is that our army have already made their way to your drop ship and they are brining me the one they call Bellamy Blake back alive. As for any who stand in their way, they will be killed.” Lincoln's head snaps up, eyes pleading once more as her gaze turns to burn against his. “Any who don't stand in their way, will be brought back here. I am unaware if Octavia Blake will be one of those people, but either way, death seems too easy of an out for you.” 

“Why did you attack my people?”

Lexa doesn't look at Wells, still staring Lincoln down as she answers, “your people became a threat to mine. But fear not, you, Clarke, Charlotte, Monty Green and anybody else who comes here willingly will be safe. You have my word. Lincoln, you are banished from this clan. If you are to step foot anywhere in the boundaries of this village without mine or Indra's permission, there will be a kill order on your head, even if Octavia Blake finds herself here, you will not be permitted to see her, do I make myself clear?”

“Heda he deserves death for going against-”

“Indra, this is his punishment. Lincoln will live never knowing if his love is alive, that will break him more than death.” She sees a small tear escape him, but she pays it no mind. “Now leave us, Wells and I have much to discuss.” 

Indra frowns once more, opening her mouth to go against Lexa's orders, but locks her jaw and does as she's told. “Why didn't you have him killed really?” 

“Most of our gonakru do not live long, there are a few exceptions, warriors like Indra and Gustus for example, but many do not live past thirty summers. Lincoln is a good man, he has never had the heart of a warrior, even if he went against his Heda I do not believe he deserves death for his actions for the one he loves. They must find passion where they can, and must not take it for granted. When you fall in love one day, Wells Jaha, you will understand.”

“Your culture is very confusing,” Lexa laughs, “I'd like to know more. My people will not be happy about this attack when they fall, and they have technology much greater than your weapons.” Lexa's laugh turns to a glare. “That was not intended to be a threat, Commander, but a warning. Admittedly, my people would probably die quickly with very little knowledge of the cold nights or how to grow food and especially hunt. I'd like us to be able to work together when they come down, but the Chancellor is not an easy man to persuade, and the council will not go against him.”

Lexa nods with a small smile, “now you are thinking like a true leader. I have already discussed this with some of my people. I'd like the same things, however, I do not know or care about your Chancellor. I'd like both you and Clarke to be the leaders your people look to, a different perspective of our ways. They cannot expect to come down here with their laws. I have spent years bringing twelve clans together, and the Mountain Men are still our biggest threat, I will not have your people come down with their lack of education about this world.”

“There are people in Mount Weather?”

“Yes. They are incredibly dangerous. They have already captured thousands of my people and turned my men into Ripas', monsters. We are unsure how or why they do this. If we can form a truce with your people, I'd like for us to use your technology to stop them. If they come for us, there is a high chance they will come after you also. We can talk about this later, for now I'd like your opinion on Bellamy Blake.”

A dark cloud graces Wells' features and his lips turn to a snarl, “he put a gun to my best friend's head, do what you will. I respect that you will not harm the innocent though, we are invaders in your land, you have every right to kill us, so thank you.” 

“Mochof.”

“Erm, bless you?”

Lexa chuckles, “mochof, it means thank you. Pro means you are welcome.”

“Heda,” a gruff voice interrupts, “we have returned with Bellamy Blake, he is locked in a holding cell with Ryder overseeing him, most of the Sky People offered their surrender, but few put up a fight that is now over for them, what are your orders?”

She turns with her mask back up, “have them seated and fed, we need not scare them more than they already are. Once they are settled, I will come and join you. Thank you, Gustus.” The man nods with a small glare at Wells. “Well, my people now all know of your existence. I forewarn you that they will not be so welcoming a first, many of them had family and friends in the village your drop ship destroyed, but I hope we can work together.” She walks out following Gustus, expecting Wells to follow her, “join Gustus, try and make your people feel at ease, it is not our intention to hurt you, I have other matters to attend to right now, Clarke and Finn have wandered off and I do not believe Clarke realises how serious I am when I say there are bigger threats out there than us.”

Lexa motions her hand to the large man and with a hesitant look back towards her, Wells finally follows. She notices the owl in the sky, Zeke obviously staying in his animal form until it's clear, and motions him to come to her. 

He lands on a branch just above her head, “I need you to help me find Clarke, I can track her scent but she has had much time to flee so it isn't as strong. Once you do that you may come back to rest.” 

The barred owl lets out one small hoot before flying back into the sky and Lexa strides back through her tent, stripping as she shifts and tries to catch Clarke's scent. She sees Zeke make his way to the north and her stomach drops as she chases after him. It's a few minutes until Clarke's scent is more profound in her nose and Zeke sweeps low past her. Her paws move even faster along the ground and over the area she's been dreading reaching, past the safe zone of the acid fog. 

She sees moving figures in front of her as Zeke flies back, hoping that he will tell Anya where she is just in case. Hoping that Anya will be back soon so he can tell her. 

The alcohol invades her sinuses before she gets to Clarke and Finn, and Clarke grins wide when she sees her, “hey girl, I was wondering where you were.”

Finn's eyes widen and he stands up on wobbly legs, “Clarke what the fuck is that?”

Clarke giggles, reaching out to pet Lexa's head but topples before she can reach. Lexa moves her body to stop Clarke falling to the ground and her words come out slurred, “I told you I had a pet panther, silly.” 

Lexa idly wonders how Clarke could've got so drunk so quickly. “That- that thing is not a pet, Clarke.”

“It's fine, Finn. Look how cute she is.” Lexa huffs. “You know, girl, he didn't believe me when I told him about you. And look, we found alcohol. In this underground bunker.” She moves her head to the side and Lexa sees the open hatch. “Awesome right?”

“Clarke, seriously, you need to get away from that thing before it rips you apart.”

Clarke waves him off. “Oh hush. And you think I'm not the fun one?” She looks back to Lexa. “I'm fun. I'm plenty fun right? Tell him I'm plenty fun.”

“Oh, I know you can be fun, Princess. But that thing, that thing is not fun. We need to leave. Now.” 

Scoffing, Clarke laughs, “she's harmless, Finn. Show him how harmless you are.”

Lexa takes that opportunity to step forward and growl loud in his direction, causing him to stumble back into the hatch. “Yeah, real fucking harmless.”

“Well she obviously just doesn't like you. I can't blame her.” Lexa smirks. 

A deafening alarm rings around them and Lexa gulps. “What was that?”

“How am I suppose to know? We should probably head back.” Clarke sighs and stands, but Lexa knows they won't make it to the safe zone in time. She can already see the red mist making it's way towards them and hear reapers rustling through the trees. 

Without thinking, she grabs Clarke's wrists between her teeth and she knows she's drawn blood, can taste and smell it along with Clarke's yelp of pain, but she doesn't care. Finn has already clicked on to what she's doing and jumps down in the hanger. Lexa drags Clarke to the opening and all but throws her in.

Clarke stands on the ladder, looking deep into Lexa's eyes trying to read them, but her own baby blues are still dazed with alcohol so Lexa nudges her with her head. “Wait-”

Lexa closes the hatch with her back legs, securing them inside. “Clarke we need to lock it!”

“No, Finn, we can't just leave her out there.” 

She hears Finn tug Clarke down the ladder and lock the hatch, but she doesn't have time to be mad when the smoke bombs are getting closer to her along with footsteps. 

She's never been more grateful that she's immune to these and the acid fog. 

Her teeth show in a loud roar when she sees the footsteps belonging to the sound, glancing around to see several guns pointed at her face. Her roars continue to grow and she moves to attack, quickly slicing through the protective material the Mountain Men wear and watches him fall to the ground gasping for air. She knows she doesn't have long for the fog to clear, her small shield of cover, and until the reapers make their way to her area. She manages to swipe at another before she smiles inwardly at another roar occupying her own, a large bear making an unexpected appearance and two birds soaring down, four sets of claws ripping seamlessly through fabric and before she knows it there are six bodies on the ground chocking on their oxygen.

She quickly nuzzles the brown bear with a distinct black strip down its right side as they move as one, the reapers rapidly increasing on them. 

The first two are swiftly taken down by sharp talons to the neck, bleeding out, the next two occupied with the bear next to her and the last two gaining on her. One goes down easily with a bite to the jugular and the other with a fierce swipe of a claw to his femoral artery followed by another deep, fatal swipe across his abdomen. 

She only feels slightly guilty that these used to be her men. 

By the time Amaya has knocked out the last reaper with a blow to his head against a tree, Aden and Zeke have settled beside Lexa and she rubs her head softly against them in her thanks. They both puff out their chests. 

It's mere seconds later that the fog clears and Lexa hears the familiar pounding of hooves against terrain. Anya dismounts her horse before he even stops running and she grabs Lexa's head, “laik yu klir?” Lexa nods once, motioning her head to the hatch where she hears Clarke and Finn still arguing. Anya turns to the young Nightbloods, “he still alive?” She looks over to the last reaper on the ground, his head bleeding from the impact of the tree, but Amaya bows her head in confirmation, “take him back, Nyko has some new medicine he wishes to try.” Amaya huffs out a grunt, gripping his neck to pull him on to her back and carries him away, Zeke and Aden following to make sure her path is clear. 

“For fuck sake, Finn, I'm not interested in you!”

“Oh come on, Princess, you know we'd be good together.”

“Not if you were the last-”

Lexa roars in the bunkers direction, silencing the commotion causing Anya to laugh, she bangs loud on the hatch, “Clarke, it's safe to come out now. Open the hatch.”

Hearing the latch unlock, Anya takes a step back and Clarke's head pops out, glaring at her. She pulls herself up and goes to push Anya who just grabs her arms with a snarl. “You kidnapped me.”

“Under Lexa's orders. And you'd do well to keep your hands off of me Skaiprisa, or else you will lose them. Not all of us are as nice as Lexa.” 

“Nice? You call attacking innocent people nice?” Clarke rips her hands away, smiling as she sees the panther still there and goes over to stroke her.

Anya almost can't contain the ironic chuckle threatening to escape her, “Lexa has thousands of people to protect, she is doing what is right by them. If it were up to me, you would all be dead and there would be none of your kind socialising over dinner with mine. Your friend, Monty Green, is still trying to reach your people by the way. You also have Lexa to thank for that.” Clarke snaps her head up in surprise, but before she can say anything, Lexa moves away from her, backing Finn up against a tree, teeth bared and snarls escaping through them. Anya smirks, “down, Heda.”

Clarke frowns, “she's yours? And you named her after Lexa?”

“She is Lexa's, actually.”

Snorting, Clarke shakes her head, “she named her after herself? Wow, narcissistic much?”

Anya glares at her, “there is much you don't know about our world, Skaiprisa, now come, you are still not safe here and if Heda here gets any closer to your friend, I am afraid the stench of his soiled underwear will attract much more worrisome creatures.”

Clarke rolls her eyes at Finn, clicking her tongue for the panther to follow her and she finally takes in her surroundings with a gasp, “what happened?”

“The men in suits, they are the Mountain Men, they use the red gas to put us to sleep before taking us to Mount Weather, the men that look like us, used to be us before they were taken and turned into monsters. Heda, just saved your life. For some reason.”

“Thanks, girl.” Clarke pats her head once and Lexa takes one last growl at Finn as she darts off. 

Anya helps Clarke to sit behind her on her horse and Finn whines, “what about me?”

“You may walk, Branwada,” she stroke the horses main, “he may be an animal, but at least he is clean.”

They both ignore his mumblings of how he 'hadn't actually shat himself' as Clarke speaks up, “what does Skaiprisa mean?”

“Sky Princess.” Clarke scoffs. “Your people call you Princess and you are from the sky, no?”

“I hate that stupid nickname Finn gave me. Now everyone uses it.”

“You say that as if I care,” Anya drawls, “I have very briefly met your friend, Wells Jaha, as I was locking him up, that is. He seems like a good man. He cares for you a lot.” 

“Wells is no friend of mine.”

Anya tilts her head to look back at Clarke, a frown gracing her features and she trots her horse a little faster so Finn has to jog to keep up, “very well.”

Clarke sighs, and Anya wishes she'd never said anything, “long story short my father knew the Ark was running out of oxygen. I told Wells because he used to be my best friend, Wells told his dad, the Chancellor, the Chancellor had my dad killed and I was locked away in prison until I was sent down here.” 

Nodding once, Anya faces forward again, “and it was only you or Wells that could have told anyone? Nobody else knew?” 

“Well my mom obviously but-” she stops herself short, “no, no she would never do that.”

They see the opening to the village in front of them and Anya brings her horse to a run, leaving Finn behind. She jumps off of her horse and helps Clarke down, seeing Finn running to catch up. “Those we love most are the only ones who have the power to hurt us so deeply.” 

Anya grabs Finn by the scruff of his neck as soon as he reaches them, “ow, where the hell are you taking me?”

“You escaped your cage, where do you think?” 

“Where's Lexa? I want to know what the fuck is going on.”

“It's Commander to you, sky boy, use her given name again and I will slit your throat.” She looks back over her shoulder to Clarke, “goodnight, Skaiprisa.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“No.”

-

Lexa is going to kill Anya.

The words her General had said now catching up with her on the run back to her tent leaves her feeling embarrassed and slightly mortified and Spirit, could she be more unsubtle about Lexa and her panther being one?

She shifts as she enters her tent, forgoing getting dressed to bring Amaya into a hug, “Amaya what are you doing here? It is dangerous for you to travel alone.”

Amaya hangs her head in shame, “I'm sorry, Lexa.”

“Don't ever do that again, okay?” She feels a nod against her neck and places the young girl down, “now go and get some rest,” she looks to the two boys, “all off you.” She begins changing back into her clothes, smiling softly, “and Nitblidas',” she waits until their attention is back on her from the opening of the tent, “you all did very well just now. Hold your heads high. Mochof.”

“Pro, Heda,” they respond in unison, Amaya's smile gleaming when she realises Lexa isn't truly mad at her. 

She makes her way to where the reaper is being held, he's awake now, struggling against the strongest chains her people can forge, snarling and growling, eyes empty, “Nyko.”

“Commander.” He bows his head. “I have already given him a dose of my newest formula, it is too early yet to know of adverse affects, the others hadn't started to react to treatments for at least one hour.” 

Lexa nods, “that is fine, Nyko. I was just checking in. I hope we are getting closer to a cure for them.” 

“Maybe when the Sky People come down they will have medicines we have not yet heard of or that we do not understand.”

Her mouth quirks just slightly, “I am glad to have your support.” She feels Clarke's presence making it's way up behind her and turns, “Klark.”

“Commander,” Clarke's eyes flit between Lexa and Nyko, “may I have a word in private?”

“Of course,” she looks back to Nyko, “keep me updated,” and leads Clarke back to her tent noting that the alcohol that was previously in her system has dissipated, probably through shock. Lexa raises her eyebrow when Clarke shifts from foot to foot, “well?”

Clarke lifts her head, words hesitant, “so I heard you have Bellamy now. What are you going to do with him?”

“He shall be kept locked away for a few days and I shall decide his fate when our people calm down.”

“Octavia is in the village, she's already brewing up a storm about where her brother is. And Lincoln.”

Lexa's jaw locks but she keeps her voice steady, “I will speak to her concerning Bellamy after we are finished. I still need to speak to your people as a whole. As for Lincoln, he is banished from this clan and village.”

“You saved him,” Clarke frowns up at her, brows creased, questioning, “why?”

“We have all made stupid mistakes for the one we love. Octavia is free to go after him of course, if she wishes, but she will not be welcome here either if she does.”

“Have you?” Clarke clears her throat, her eyes now staring straight into Lexa's, the same confusion written in them as when she tries to read her. “Have you ever done something stupid for the one you love?”

Lexa breathes deep through her nose, “what was it that you really wanted to ask me, Clarke?” 

“I- nothing. I just,” she clears her throat again, “you kept Monty safe, thank you.”

“I know you wish to contact your people, and I understand he is the best person for that. I am not evil, Clarke, I do not wish to see your people suffer but mine come first. Once I am satisfied your people have a leader I trust, you may return to the drop ship and make it your own if that is what you want. If some of your people wish to stay here, explore the other clans, the ones I deem viable that is, or even if they wish to fend for themselves in the wild, that is up to them. They can do as they please so long as they are not a threat to my people.”

“And if they do choose to fend for themselves?”

“There are clans within my Coalition that will kill them on the spot, and I will not give the order that they cannot since you are not a part of my Kongeda. Trikru already have orders not to harm the innocent; the boat people, although difficult to get to, are very peaceful, they do not take part in our wars. The Broadleaf, Shallow Valley and Blue Cliff clans would also accept your people. However; the Rock Line and especially Azgeda would most likely torture them before they eventually killed them,” Clarke gasps, “or if they survive such torture, would train them to be killers. But honestly, if your people did leave, they wouldn't survive as far as the other clans.”

Clarke tilts her head and Lexa sees the tiniest of smirks grace her lips, “so basically what you're saying is that our best chance is with you?”

Lexa holds her stance, hands moving behind her back and chin raised high, “Trikru specifically, but yes.”

Clarke walks closer, the smirk not leaving her lips, “and this has nothing to do with the technology my people have to offer? If they don't come down from the sky, if we can offer nothing but learning from you how to survive, this offer still stands? If my people want to stay here, to learn, to live, they can?”

“Your innocent will be safe, your guilty will be punished. You are safe, Clarke.” 

A hint of playfulness, the same kind Lexa saw on the first day, washes over Clarke's face, “then I guess I'd better stick around. Anya told me the panther in the forest is yours. She saved my life today.”

Lexa's posture relaxes, a softness in her eyes Clarke has yet to properly witness, “she is very protective of those that intrigue her.”

Clarke nods with a small smile, “it's not everyday you see somebody with a panther as a pet,” Lexa's animal growls at how often she's being called a pet, but Lexa pushes her down, “you've done a great job training her.” 

“She may not listen to me most of the time, but she is loyal.”

Laughing slightly, Clarke refocusses her attention towards their prior conversation, “do you have somebody in mind to lead at the drop ship?”

As if he knew the answer to that, Wells makes his appearance in the tent, and Lexa watches as any trace of light-heartedness vanishes from Clarke, her face a storm and eyes cold, harsh. “Commander, I'd like to talk about- Clarke, you're here.”

Clarke storms towards him, pushing him back by his shoulders, “tell me it isn't true, Wells. Tell my my own fucking mother didn't get my dad killed.” The shocked look on his face and his silence are enough of an answer for her and she feels like throwing up. She steps back, fighting off the ugly tears threatening to spill, “you bastard.”

She leaves the tent.


	5. Chapter 5

Lexa finds Clarke ten minutes later, sitting on a log around a fire throwing rocks, sticks, lumps of dirt- anything within reach, into the flame. Her eyes are red as she wipes angrily at the tears she's trying to hold back, silently chastising herself for letting them fall in the first place. Lexa sits down next to her.

“Where is he?” 

“I have sent him away for the rest of the night. We must be with a clear head if our proceedings to get your people back are to continue.” She looks over Clarke, watching her fist clench around the device on her wrist, “are they to continue?”

Clarke looks up at Lexa, hand stilling. The flicking of the camp fire and moisture in her eyes making the blue glisten, “why did he do this to me? He should've told me the truth.”

“Would you have listened to him?” Clarke opens her mouth to respond, but all that comes out is a choked sob. “He was just trying to protect you.”

Standing up, Clarke growls, “why the hell does everyone seem to think I need protecting?” She starts pacing and Lexa stands with her. “I'm not some, some... Princess okay? I don't need a knight in shining armour to fucking rescue me.”

Lexa grabs Clarke's shoulders, stilling her with a soft, “I know.” 

Clarke sighs, posture deflating and looks down at her wrist, “you were right.” She sits down, grabbing a large rock and resting her wrist against the log. “These people don't give a shit about me. Maybe the Ark would be better off thinking we're all dead.” She lifts the rock, readying herself to bring it down to the device.

“Clarke-”

“No, Lexa. I'm done with being a test subject. The Ark wants to find out if the Earth is survivable? Fine. They can figure it out for themselves.” She puts all her strength into the hit against her hand, but just before the rock makes contact, Lexa grabs her arm to stop her. “Get your hand off of me.”

“I will not watch you do something you will regret tomorrow, Clarke.”

Clarke glares at her, teeth clenched together, “then don't watch.” She rips her arm away, standing to tower over Lexa.

Lexa's gaze darts around before she lets a sigh of relief flow through her and stands up slowly, cautiously, “Clarke, you cannot react to me that way in public. If somebody sees you disrespecting the Commander in any way I will have no choice but to punish you for your actions.”

“Great,” she snorts, “yet another thing to add to the list of people telling me what I am and am not allowed to do.” She starts back to Lexa's tent.

Following close behind, Lexa huffs and crosses her arms over her chest, speaking as they go through the flaps, “your tendency to walk away when you're mad at me is beginning to annoy, Clarke.”

Clarke spins on her heel, strutting back up to Lexa, causing her to take a small step back, “well your tendency to push at a subject that is none of your fucking business is also beginning to annoy, Heda.” They stare off, both refusing to back down, the sounds of voices and heavy feet of warriors outside the tent an echoed blur until Clarke finally relents with an irritated breath through her nose, “I'm going to bed.” 

She turns back around, heading towards a curtained off section of the tent, “that is my quarters, Clarke.” She freezes. 

Lexa smirks when Clarke slowly, very slowly, turns back to face her, embarrassment showing on her features in a light blush, “right, sorry. I guess I'll just-”

“Stay.” 

“Excuse me?”

Lexa walks up to her, voice lowering in the small bubble their presence creates, “the day has been long, and my bed is very comfortable, especially compared to what you have been used to these past few days. It will help you to relax and clear your mind.”

Clarke bites her bottom lip and Lexa wills herself not to look down and away from Clarke's eyes, that pass over with something Lexa can't quite decipher. Her voice softens to the same whisper as Lexa's, “what about you?”

“I have much to plan. Sleep is not my priority.”

Frowning, Clarke stands up straighter, her eye contact not breaking, “you need to rest as well, Lexa.”

Lexa's lips quirk and Clarke bites her own again, “I have spent many days forgoing sleep in order to ensure my people's safety.” Clarke goes to speak again but Lexa interrupts her, “I assure you I will rest once I am confident that this situation has settled.”

Clarke nods, “okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah,” Clarke breaths out, “okay.” She relaxes once more, turning to make her way through the curtain, looking back over her shoulder, “goodnight, Lexa.”

“Reshop, Klark.”

-

The morning sun brings Clarke a renewed sense of ambition after what she can arguably admit had been the best nights sleep she'd ever had. Sure, her mind was still reeling from everything that had happened the night before and she was restless throughout with nightmares consisting of different variations of how her mom had killed her dad, but Lexa wasn't exaggerating about how comfortable her bed was. 

The soft furs feel like silk against her skin and she reluctantly leaves their warm embrace to change, noting clean clothes and a towel on the top of a table and steam drifting through from what she can only deduce to being a freshly drawn bath. 

She decides to take advantage of it, the dirt and grime from the previous days had built up on her flesh and in her hair and the urge to scrub it all away along with her taunting thoughts seem like too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Her body twitches as she lowers herself into the scolding water, skin still sensitive to anything other than what she was used to in the sky, but it soon adapts and she grabs the cloth hung over the side of the tub and what smells like a vanilla lotion to begin her task of cleaning her body and de-cluttering her mind. 

It doesn't take long for the transparent water to turn murky and she grimaces as she realises just how filthy she must've been.

Once she's finally satisfied- skin raw and stinging in the cold air surrounding the water- she's clean, she goes about her mission to get dry and dress quickly, avoiding as much of the cold as possible. The new clothes fit her perfectly and she wonders how Lexa had set this up so quickly before heading into the main area of the tent. 

The food she had ignored yesterday has been replaced along with freshly squeezed juice and she moans as soon as their tastes swirl around in her mouth. The mix of sour berries and sweet liquid dance along her tongue and she chastises herself for not trying this yesterday.

After practically devouring the plate in front of her, glad nobody was around to witness that spectacle, she makes her way to the area where she knows Lexa has her people. She sees Octavia surrounded by men three times her size, trying to fight them off and the part of her that still feels protective over the John Murphy proclaimed 'delinquents' has her stepping forward until she hears a loud, strong voice shout over above the rest, “pathetic! Again!” 

Octavia stands up, spitting blood from her mouth and snarling at the woman's order but moves to fight anyway. “You are looking refreshed this morning, Skaiprisa.”

Clarke smiles without turning, “how do you say asshole in your language?”

Anya comes to stand next to her, taking in a deep breath through her nose, closing her eyes against the sun and smirks, “that is for me to know.” Clarke scoffs and Anya opens her eyes to watch the same scene as Clarke. “I see Lexa's talk with Octavia went well.”

“Well she is trying to beat up multiple men, large men. Large men with large muscles. And failing. Badly. So yes, I'd have to agree with you.” Her reply is sarcastic, but there's a hint of teasing hidden behind it.

“She is not doing so bad for someone who has zero training and a severe lack of body strength, agility, stamina and co-ordination. Indra seems mildly impressed at the very least.”

“I can only assume that's a high compliment coming from her?”

Anya lets out a short, barely noticeable laugh through her nose, “your assumption would be correct. Lexa is talking with the rest of your people now. The majority of them seem rather calm and accepting, though there has been a few that had walked out of camp as soon as Lexa gave them that option. Those that want to stay will have to be here until Lexa is confident they will listen to the leader she appoints you however, then you may return to your Dropship.” 

Clarke nods, “Wells, I presume?” 

“You are on a roll today, Skaiprisa.” Clarke rolls her eyes. “But yes. Do you think you will be returning with them?”

Anya glances at Clarke, keeping eye contact through side-eyes, but they are completely blank, Clarke unable to read anything from them and she sighs, “I don't think so. I don't feel like I belong with them.”

“And where is it you feel you belong?”

“I don't know.”

-

“I'm sorry, Clarke, I don't know what else I can do. If I could just try one more time-”

“It's fine, Monty. You're doing the best you can.” Clarke glances down at her wrist and snaps up the wire cutters before anyone realises what she's doing, cutting the device from her wrist and handing it over to him.

“Clarke, your mom-”

Clarke shakes her head, cutting him off, “this is our last chance, Monty. I'm counting on you to get this right.” She leaves before she can get too angry at the mention of her mom. Storming through the door she crashes into something hard, hears a startled gasp, “shit I'm sorry- Lexa? How long have you been there?”

Lexa straightens them both, patting down her own cloak so it looks as pristine as usual, “long enough. You gave your wrist band to Monty?”

Shaking away her dark thoughts, Clarke can only growl out, “just because my mom is a selfish bitch doesn't mean I'm going to be. There are families that should be reunited, I'm not going to stand in the way of that because of my own issues.”

“Walk with me?” Lexa asks, stepping back and leading them both out to the village, Octavia still fighting. “Wells has agreed to be the leader at your camping ground. I believe that once we make contact with your people, he will be able to convince them to set up a treaty, convince them that we are not the people that you yourself believed us to be. We can use that to fight the Mountain.”

Clarke nods with tight lips, “Wells is a good choice but you will still have a hard time getting through to the Council, regardless of him being the Chancellor's son.”

“I am aware, but it does not hurt to try.” Lexa's lips tilt down as she comes to a stop outside TonDC's holding cells. “Our Ripa reacted badly to Nyko's new medicine, but his reports show that there was a glimpse of the warrior we used to know before his body convulsed and his heart stopped beating. We are very close to finding a cure for this.”

“As disgusted as I am at the minute with my mother, she is an amazing doctor. If anybody could help you save them it's her. I would say that her main priority was saving lives, but I guess she proved me wrong about that.”

Lexa's eyes soften, “there is nothing we can do to change the past. We can only work towards creating a better future.” 

Clarke shakes her head with a small chuckle, “do you write these life lessons down or do they just come to you on the spot?”

“I wish for you to become my mediator between our people,” Lexa blurts out, unable to stop herself. She tries to grab at her composure, hands clasping behind her back and chin lifted to the side.

Clarke splutters, “me? Why me? They won't listen to a single thing I tell them.” 

Deflating a little at that, Lexa looks at her in awe, “you do not realise just how strong you truly are, do you?” She takes a step closer. “Once the people you came down with grow and stop acting like children, they will realise they should have listened to you, not Bellamy Blake. You have just now put aside your differences with both your mother and friend to try and bring these people back their families,” another step, “you dared to attack Anya,” another, Lexa raises an eyebrow at Clarke's smirk at that, “you walked up to a territorial predator and pet it as though it were a kitten,” Lexa's panther preens, “and most of all,” they are inches apart now, “most of all, you stand up to me when not even my most highly trained assassins and Generals' dare to.”

“You don't scare me,” Clarke whispers, “what makes me so different?”

“You intrigue me.” 

“Lexa.” A sharp cough makes them jump apart and Clarke's gaze dashes to the figure behind them, “Octavia, hey.” 

Octavia rolls her eyes, glaring between the two with a look of 'the fuck, Griff?' but her focus settles in a frown at Lexa. It doesn't make much impact with bruises already forming on her eye and chin, lip bust and a large cut along her eyebrow causing blood to seep down over her face. “You said once you finished with the delinquents that I could see my brother, Commander.” 

Clearing her throat and swallowing the lump in it, Lexa gestures to the door, “of course, after you.” She raises her eyebrow at Clarke in a silent question of whether she'd be joining them.

In answer, Clarke follows in after Octavia, brushing up unnecessarily against Lexa in the large space the door opening provides and Lexa swears she sees a fleeting glance to her lips before Clarke tries to study her eyes again as she leans her head forward, lips resting against Lexa's ear, “thank you.” Lexa's unsure what Clarke is thanking her for; the bed? The bath, clothes, food? The compliments she's just given her? She doesn't know, but she nods anyway.

Octavia's boots stomping on the floor echo around the cave and it isn't until they reach the end that a loud voice joins the sound. “O! O, what the hell?” He looks behind her to Lexa, “what the fuck did you do to my sister?” 

“She didn't do anything to me, Bell. Well not me personally exactly,” she glares again at Lexa and she doesn't need to clarify that she's talking about Lincoln.

Lexa turns, blanking out the siblings', trying to give them as much privacy as possible, knowing she has to make a decision soon regarding Bellamy's fate. There's a soft whimper from the other side and her panther growls. “Clarke?” It's weak. So weak. So pathetic. So... Finn.

Clarke's eyes trail over Lexa again and she smirks as she rolls her eyes causing Lexa to smile. She makes her way over to the cage with a curt nod, “Finn.”

“Oh thank god you're okay.” Clarke rolls her eyes again like she's trying to prove her dad's old wives tale of how they'd get stuck in that position. “You gotta get me out of here, Princess. I don't even know why I'm here. Please.”

Lexa steps forward, “you are here because you broke out of my cell. You had a thin piece of metal that you used to pick the lock. What exactly did you think the repercussions of that would be?”

Finn scrunches his nose at her, “you're the Commander? But you're so... so-”

“Choose your words wisely, Finn Collins.” 

“I just thought you'd be older. Clarke, c'mon, you have to help me.” He ignores Lexa, focusing solely on Clarke.

Clarke's eyebrows sink together, a perfect crease running along her forehead and she shrugs, “sorry, Finn, rules are rules.” 

He tries a different approach, shoulders straightening, hands gripping the cage, pout prominent on his face and floppy hair swung to one side, head tilted, “doesn't it hurt you to see me trapped like an animal in here?” 

Lexa has to keep her panther down, her urge to shift and rip out this boy's throat almost uncontrollable, “when a person tells you they are not interested, it does not mean you vary your ways in an act of persistence until they give in.”

A hand on the small of Lexa's back is the only thing that reigns her panther in, and she's thankful that the need to shift subsides. The soft whispers of reassurance and tender care from Octavia and Bellamy suddenly shift to anger and resentment, loud curses bouncing off of the walls and Clarke leans closer to Finn, “if you feel like a trapped animal, I'll make sure the guard brings you a fresh bowl of water.” She stands, ignoring his sobs, “Octavia it's time to go.”

Octavia doesn't need to be told twice, storming out, Lexa and Clarke close behind. She grabs Clarke's hand as soon as they're out, forcing her to her to stay back and watches the glances, the silent communication between Clarke and Lexa, Lexa telling her she'll be stood with Anya who is just up ahead if she needs her, Clarke telling Lexa that she knows before Lexa walks off, “what's that?”

“What's what?”

“That. You are getting close to her.”

Clarke huffs, “we should all be getting close to them. They're our best chance at survival and you know that.”

“She exiled Lincoln.”

“Exactly. Exiled. Not executed.” Octavia glares at her. “Lincoln committed treason, O. If that was on the Ark he would've been floated straight away.” The glare remains. “Look, she banned him from this village, this clan. If you go back with Wells to the Dropship there is no reason you two can't reconcile.” 

Octavia's shoulders slump. “I don't trust her.”

“You don't have to. But you know I'm right.”

“What about Bellamy?”

Clarke sighs, “I wish I knew.”

Anya notices straight away, of course, “something's changed.” Lexa nods. “What? When? How?” She waits a beat. “Why?” Lexa shrugs, she honestly can't pinpoint it. “This isn't the right time.”

“I know.”

“She's emotionally unstable.”

“I know.”

“She just found out one of her parents' had something to do with the other's death.”

“I know.”

“She trusted her best friend and he's been lying to her about that.”

“I know.”

“This isn't the right time, Lexa,” Anya warns once more for good measure.

Lexa sighs, “I know. But Anya, I can't-” a loud squawk in the sky grabs their attention and they look up to see Aden flying fast towards the sun.

Both Lexa and Anya's hands come up to try and block out it's glare and they both gasp when they see something falling towards them. Clarke and Octavia come up behind them, “what the hell is that?”

Anya glints against the sun's rays, the familiar look of metal becoming more clear the closer it falls, “I can only assume it has something to do with your people?” She side-eyes Clarke, watching her smirk.

“Your assumption would be correct.” Anya glares at her own words used against her mockingly as they all watch the metal box fall at a rapid speed, eventually causing the ground to shake and black smoke in the distance as it crashes against the land.

“My life was less dramatic when our people were at war.”


	6. Chapter 6

Lexa hears the loud roar long before they reach the crash site, runs faster, leaves the others behind. Her feet are not as gracious as usual, the pounding of her boots heavy through her ear drums as she reaches deep inside herself to push forward, stop the bear she knows is at the scene, the sounds the beast is making obvious that the animal has taken over. 

She takes no notice of the gash across her cheek from the thorn bush she breaks through, knowing Anya will not lead Clarke and Octavia through it, giving her that extra moment she needs to tame the creature. 

“Omiya! Chil yu au!”Amaya doesn't listen to the command, her bear far too gone for the human to control. She pulls her sword, strides over and places herself between the animal and the unconscious woman on the floor. She assumes Amaya was attracted to the open gash on the girl's hairline. She holds her free hand out, “em's ogun. Yu laik klir.” Amaya sniffs the hand, bared teeth showing gums receding under lips and constricted pupils dilating, “os gada, komba hir, Omiya.” The bear lets out a whimper, eyes apologetic as possible as she nuzzles into Lexa's hand. “There you are,” Lexa smiles. She hears Anya's footsteps approaching, knowing she'd purposely slowed down, “go back to camp. We will discuss why you were out on your own when I return.” 

Amaya nods reluctantly, but turns on her paws to hide behind the trees just as Anya, Clarke and Octavia come into view. Lexa leans down to examine the blood seeping out of the girl's upper arm, likely caused by a bite mark that Amaya left when she dragged her out of the metal box and she tears a strip of fabric from her shirt to wrap it around the wound. “Is she alive?”

Clarke's voice is low as she bends down to join Lexa, taking over the knot she'd started to create, wrapping the make-shift bandage tighter and securing it with a firm tug, “where did you learn that?”

“My mom's a doctor, Lexa. You tend to pick up a few things.” 

Lexa can only nod, standing, “she is alive, but her breath is weak. The crash must have left her unconscious.” Clarke stands with her, and she tries and fails not to look too smug when Clarke's gaze drifts to her exposed stomach. “We should move her back, have Nyko examine her. She has a bite mark, probably from a wild animal that could smell the blood from her forehead.” Clarke raises her brow and Lexa huffs, “it was not my panther, Clarke.” 

“We don't know if she has any internal damage. Moving her could cause any injuries we don't see to become worse, we need to find a way to wake her up.”

“Nyko will be able-”

“She could have a concussion.” 

Octavia and Anya spare a glance at each other and Anya rolls her eyes, retrieving a water skin from her belt and squirting it on the girl's face causing her to shoot up with a splutter, “ow, what the fuck?” 

Lexa glares at Anya, “what? She is awake, is she not?”

They all watch as she brings her hands up to her face, wiping away the water before opening her eyes, blinking a few times as she takes in her surroundings, “holy shit, I actually made it.” She eventually notices the four bodies around her, “erm, hey.” She tries to stand, her legs giving out on her as soon as she puts any pressure on them and falls back, “whoa.”

Anya is swift in her movements to catch her, wrapping an arm around her waist, “slow down there, Skaigada, your crash was not the smoothest transition.” 

“How did you get down here?” Octavia's words blurt out, impatience clouding her stance.

The girl just laughs and hold her hand out, “Raven Reyes, and you are?”

“Octavia Blake,” she answers, ignoring the hand in front of her.

Raven shrugs and looks to Clarke, who does accept the hand shake, “Clarke.”

Eyes widen in recognition, “Clarke? Clarke Griffin? Abby's kid?”

“You know my mom?”

Raven nods vigorously, but she's quick to hold her head when a wave of dizziness washes over her, “yeah. She helped me to get down here since yours was the only band left working. And even when it stopped this morning she was still adamant that you were alive since I told her you all took your bracelets off because you were told not to. She's going to be so happy to hear you're okay.” Clarke's scoffed, 'I'll bet,' goes unheard. “Which reminds me,” she gestures over to the pod, “there is a radio in there to contact the Ark.” Whilst Octavia rummages around, she lets her eyes rake over Lexa and Anya, “what about you two? You don't look like anyone from the stations I've seen.”

Anya speaks up next to her, “we are not.”

“No shit? You're from the ground?” A nod. Octavia hands the found radio to Raven who after a few tweaks growls, “damn it! It must've broke when I landed.” She sighs, “look, I can probably fix this but I mainly just came down here to look for my boyfriend. He was sent down with you. Finn. Finn Collins.” She sees Octavia's eyes dart to the ground, Clarke roll hers and hears Anya and Lexa growl, “he's still alive, right? Please tell me he's still alive.”

Anya looks to Lexa before answering, “yes, you may see him after our healer looks you over.”

Raven shakes her head, “no. I see him first, find a way to fix the radio and then you can make sure I'm going to stay alive.” Lexa nods once and Anya grabs under Raven legs to lift her bridal style, “I can walk you know.”

“You will slow me down sky girl. Do not think I will come back for you if the bear returns to finish it's job.” She looks down at the bandage covering Raven's arm and glances to Octavia, “come.”

It's as they are barely out of sight that Lexa turns to fully face Clarke, her right cheek only now in view and Clarke gasps, reaching out to thumb the cut, “it is just a graze, Clarke.”

Clarke just stares at her incredulously, pulling her hand back, “your blood's black, Lexa.”

“Oh. Yes.”

“Yes?” She chuckles, “is that all the answer I'm going to get?” 

Lexa clears her throat in embarrassment, “right. Of course. It goes back to the first Commander. When a Nightblood child is chosen, they are to come to the capitol to train to become the next Heda.”

“Chosen?”

“Sha. The Spirit chooses a select few each generation so it can be passed on to a worthy adversary when the current Commander dies. My Spirit will move on when I die.” 

Clarke frowns, “move on? As in reincarnation?” 

“It is how our leader is chosen,” Lexa affirms. 

Clarke can only bow her head, not entirely sure she wants to disagree with Lexa's beliefs, not entirely sure she has any right to. Not entirely sure she wants to debunk the beauty of faith that has obviously had a large part in making Lexa who she is today. “Well I'd like for your Spirit to stay where it is.” It's soft, whispered, and she's sure it was meant to stay as a thought, but by the look in Lexa's eyes, it was most definitely said out loud and she quickly backtracks, “I should get that cut cleaned up. Stop it from getting infected.” 

Lexa grabs Clarke's hand before it touches her face again, “it's fine, Clarke.” She takes a much needed step back, “we should catch up with the others.” 

-

The days quieten. Lexa had sent Zeke and Amaya back to Polis after a stern grilling about the young girl being without company and scolding her more about biting an innocent person. She had reluctantly let Finn out after Raven's persistence that she wouldn't fix the radio as long as he was locked up; on the negotiation that Anya, Indra or Gustus were to stay with him at all times. Clarke's wristband had the same fate as the others and the radio needed parts that Raven couldn't get a hold of. 

She hadn't shifted since then, spending her days with Clarke, Anya, Aden, Indra and Gustus and her nights with Monty, Raven and Wells, finalizing their treaty with the latter, and her panther itches to wonder the forest currently covered in moonlight. 

Luckily it's only after she'd just shed her cloak that she hears the commotion outside. She steps out and red clouds her vision when she sees Clarke trapped in a corner by Finn, her hands pushing his shoulders while his grabs at her hips. She storms forward, not even noticing Anya rushing towards the scene before her and yanks Finn by the back of his collar, punching him square in the face and causing him to stumble back into her General, “Heda, I am so sorry, I let my gaze drift for one second-” 

Lexa raises her hand to stop Anya, spinning to face Clarke but sees her focus somewhere to the side. She follows it cautiously, and finds Raven stood there, tears streaming down her face.

Clarke feels the bile rise up her throat, flinching harsh when Lexa attempts to place a comforting hand on her shoulder and she looks between Raven and Lexa. A slight glance to Finn makes the bile rise higher and she shoulders past Lexa, causing her to knock back an inch but she pays it no mind as she runs off into the forest. 

Her eyes are conflicted, the anger swirling in them as they move between Finn and where Clarke had run off to, Anya catches on quick, “go. I will take care of this piece of skrish.”

Lexa runs.

The moment she leaves Finn seems to catch on to what has just happened and he finally spots his girlfriend. “Raven,” he whispers. She's too far away to hear the word, but she does see it and all she can do is shake her head and head back inside. 

Anya tugs him, forcing him to walk forwards, grip firm around his neck as she seethes, “you are disgusting. You think not only is it okay to ignore the strong, beautiful, smart woman you had willingly by your side in order to pursue one who does not want you, but that you can treat her the way you just did?”

“I wasn't trying to- I wasn't going to- I could never do something like that to somebody. I just want Clarke to realise- I was just trying to show her-” they come to a stop outside the familiar cell, “I love Raven, I do. But not like she loves me. Clarke is just playing hard to get.”

“Save your breath.” Her mouth lowers to Finn's ear and a sick smirk graces her lips, “your people thought us savages, yet it is people like you who are the monsters. You will be lucky if the worst that happens to you is castration when Lexa is finished.” She opens the gate, moving to kick Finn's lower back so he topples to the ground and chuckles dark, “welcome home.”

Locking the cage, she moves to leave but is stopped by a deeper, gruff voice, “what about me?”

“You, Bellamy Blake, should be thankful that you are no longer number one on Heda's list.”

She finds Raven shortly after, small sobs constantly being furiously wiped away, “go away!” Her hands are heavy on the radio, the tiny screwdriver in her hand digging hard into the plastic, so hard it slips off of the screw and straight across her palm. “Fuck,” she hisses out, covering her hand with the dirty, grease covered cloth next to her. 

Anya is quick to move, snatching up a clean piece of fabric and her water skin, soaking it as she glides to Raven. She takes Raven's hand and pulls the filthy cloth away, replacing it with hers and sets about cleaning the wound. It's not as bad as it looks, a thin, short line, but the area is bleeding profusely every time Raven grips in a jolted twinge of pain. “Stop moving.” The hand suddenly stills, making her job much easier.

“I knew it, you know? Every time she was around Finn would just like, zone out. I knew something was happening between them.”

Raising her brow, Anya looks up at Raven for a split-second before refocussing on her task, “what is it that you think you saw exactly?”

Raven shrugs, “Finn groping Clarke. Clarke clinging back onto him. Luckily I wasn't close enough to see much of anything else. I knew that bitch was stealing him from me.”

Anya stands, sharp, and sneers, “Klark kom Skaikru has never once welcomed that boy's advances. Whatever you think you saw, you are completely wrong. Clarke is a victim in this, and I will not stand for her being accused of something she did not do.”

“I'm- I'm sorry,” Raven blinks rapidly, shaking her head, not sure why she is so willing to believe somebody she's only just met over somebody she's known her whole life, “that's- that's just what I saw.”

“What you saw was wrong.”

Raven holds up her hands in surrender, “I'm sorry alright? It's just, it's Finn, he's like a puppy, he's not capable of something like that.”

Anya only scoffs, sitting back down to wrap Raven's hand as she mumbles, “it is not I that needs your apologies.” She ties a final knot, grimacing at how much fabric on Raven's body is bandages alone. “There, you will not die, Skaigada.”

“Thank you.” They both know that it isn't just for wrapping Raven's hand.

“Pro.”

Their moment is disturbed by Monty running in, “I have an idea.”

-

The large stone scrapes against rock in deep, messy patterns, the neon blue from the radiated part of the forest highlight the scribbles, shadows casting over the dints and curves of the etches. She doesn't know what she's drawing, she just knows that these squiggly lines are going to turn into something. 

Lexa watches from her perch on the branch above, Clarke unaware of the hidden ball of black fur in the night sky.

Clarke's frustration grows in each breath she takes until her chest is rising and falling excessively and she throws the stone with an angry scream, the rock disturbing a nest of butterflies that settle back down a moment later. She brings her knees up to her chest, resting her head against them and Lexa takes this time to jump down silently from the tree, padding over to nudge against Clarke's legs. Clarke looks up and snorts, “what? Lexa send you to look after me? Because I constantly need saving, right?”

In an action that baffles Lexa, Clarke somehow manages to find a broad leaf, just over the size of her head, and rips a plant from the ground, using it's sap to continue drawing, much softer now.

Lexa nuzzles against her again and Clarke pushes at her head, “not now.”

She recoils.

Clarke must see the movement because she sighs out, “come here.” The apology is in her face even if she doesn't voice it and Lexa lays behind her, Clarke using Lexa's stomach to rest her head, the leaf against her knee. Clarke's grumbles carry on, however. “Poor Clarke, can't protect herself. Poor Clarke, can't get anyone to listen to her.” She shifts her gaze to Lexa every so often, and as the lines on the leaf start to take shape, Lexa realises Clarke is drawing her panther. “Poor Clarke, takes things out on her friends that didn't do anything wrong other than be there for her.” 

It's only a rough sketch so she starts on the last section pretty soon.

She locks her gaze onto Lexa's own and her brows furrow, “your eyes are angry. Beautiful, but angry.” She brings one hand to stroke along Lexa's head just once. “I guess animals can pick up their owners traits after all.”

Her drawing continues. 

“Lexa's eyes are like that. Even on the rare occasion she smiles or god forbid, jokes, there's always something deep in them that is just... heated.” Lexa can only stare at Clarke. “There's always that intense fire that's just so impassioned.” 

She's beginning to feel guilty for intruding.

Clarke places her finished doodle at her side, and Lexa spends a long few minutes admiring what Clarke has managed to create in just a short space of time, with some sap and a leaf. Lexa doesn't see her pick up another leaf and this time lining the start of a portrait. It's only when Clarke picks up her previous complaints that she pays attention. “Poor Clarke, so naïve and vulnerable,” Lexa doesn't think she is at all either of those things. “Poor Clarke, can't manage to save her people. Poor Clarke, obviously doesn't have her own mind to know what she wants.”

And now, now Lexa feels thoroughly guilty, because as she looks at what Clarke is drawing, it is so obviously her and the next sentence out of Clarke's mouth damn near shatters her heart;

“Poor Clarke, dumb blonde who isn't able to see what's right in front of her.” 

As gently as she can, she lifts from under Clarke, who leans up on her elbows, and nuzzles against her head once more before she heads back to camp.

She sighs as she quietly shifts and changes, closing her eyes as she puts her weight on her hands against the table. It isn't long before Clarke comes back to the tent, timid demeanour, almost shy. “Hey.”

“Hello, Clarke.”

Clarke walks up, standing on the opposite side of the table, “I'm sorry. For pushing past you, running off.”

“You need never apologise to me, Clarke. What did he say to you?”

“It doesn't matter.”

“Clarke-”

“Lexa, please. Just let it go.” 

Her eyes are begging Lexa, and all she can do is nod, “as you wish.”

“You're tired.”

She is. “I am fine.”

Clarke rolls her eyes, grabbing Lexa's wrist and dragging her towards the bed. Her own widen. “You promised you would get some sleep once things had settled. Well, they've settled,” she stops, twisting and her baby blues bore into Lexa's green, “Wells is going back to the Dropship tomorrow and the majority of the delinquents have decided what they want to do. So get some rest, Heda. I refuse to take your bed for another night.”

“You can use my bed whenever you want.” And... that was not meant to come out. She flushes at Clarke's amused grin. “That did not come out the way I had intended.” 

Taking a step closer, Clarke's legs shift to fit between Lexa's, hands gripping onto her top and nose brushing against the one in front of her, voice lowering to a murmur, “didn't it?”

Lexa's sharp inhale only causes Clarke to grin. “Clarke, there is something I need to tell you.”

“It can wait, Lexa.” 

“It can not.”

Clarke pushes forward ever-so-slightly, her lips barely touching Lexa's and they both let out a shaky breath, eyes fluttering closed, “shut up, Commander.” 

“Commander?”

Groaning, Clarke moves to lean her forehead against Lexa's, the bubble they were in popped. “Do you think if we ignore him he'll go away?”

“Commander?”

Lexa smiles, moving back, “it appears not.”

Clarke pulls away, her grip still firm against Lexa's shirt, “we aren't finished here.” 

Her smile widens, opening the curtain to the main room, blocking Clarke from being seen, “Wells Jaha. To what do I owe your presence?” 

“Raven and Monty figured out a way to contact the Ark.”

The sheet behind her whirls back and Lexa inwardly grunts, “they what?”

Wells' eyes blink a couple of time, looking between the two with confusion, “Clarke, what are you,” he stops himself when Lexa's jaw locks, “right. Raven and Monty. They used the bracelets to give the radio the power it needed, they're trying to get through to the Ark now.”

Clarke nods, “go, I'll be there in a minute.” He looks between them again before leaving and Clarke stops Lexa's forward momentum with a solid hand to her chest, “you aren't going anywhere.” 

“Clarke-”

“Wells, Raven, Monty and I are more than capable of handling this, Lexa. Get some sleep, that's an order.”

“I do not take orders from anyone, Klark kom Skaikru.”

Clarke dips her head forwards, her tone low in Lexa's ear, “you'll learn to, Leksa kom Trikru.” She pulls back, laughing at Lexa's look of shock, “seriously, I've got this. If you behave I might even join you later,” she winks, leaving the tent and a flabbergasted Lexa behind. 

The wind that wraps around her body suddenly feels like a touch of freedom, and a sense of determination energizes her as she braces herself to speak to her mother.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have no idea how cringe-worthy it was for me to write 'soccer'.....ugh.

Loud grunts and swords clashing echo around the training ground, sweat and blood rolls off of bodies in pools and expressions turn from impressed to grimaces and back every time Octavia falls and recovers to attack. The sound of metals bouncing against each other radiate in the air every time Indra brings her weapon down with a sneer, “had enough yet?”

“Never.”

Octavia falls to one knee, one hand held on the hilt of her sword and the other in a fist as she uses the back of her forearm to brace her own sword, teeth clenching when it rips through the leather and begins digging in her skin, blood dropping to the already soaked ground beneath her as Indra furthers the pressure. “Your people leave tomorrow,” Indra wipes a bead of sweat from her brow, keeping Octavia in place, “will you be joining them?”

Rolling out under the force of Indra's weight, Octavia slams her sword into the ground and huffs, gripping onto her cut arm, “Bellamy is here,” she pants, lifting her knees to brace her elbows in an attempt to steady her breath, “but Lincoln is out there.”

“Heda should have had that boy's head when she had the chance. Had anyone but her closest known that he was our natrona, she would've had no choice but to take it. He escaped death.”

“He was just trying to protect me. I was the one that decided to tell the guys at the Dropship, you should be blaming me.”

Indra scoffs, “you were doing what you thought was right for your people, he willingly put his own in danger. He has family and friends here, and he risked letting them die by telling you of our plans. Tell me, Okteivia kom Skaikru, if the situations were reversed, would you have risked Bellamy's life?” Octavia stays silent. “I think the fact that you told him of our plans, proves that you would not.”

Octavia stands, grabbing her sword from the ground before sheathing it, “I love him, Indra, haven't you ever felt like that?”

When Indra looks almost insulted at the word, Octavia has to hold back her laugh. “My loyalties have and always will lie with Heda and my kru. I have no time for such nonsense.” She pauses for a second, reaching out her arm to clasp at the elbows with Octavia, “whatever you decide to do tomorrow, you will always be welcome to train at my camp,” she smirks, “Skaigona.”

Octavia smiles.

-

Clarke frowns as she heads to the door, “I thought Ryder was supposed to take the night shift?”

Anya crosses her arms over her chest in a huff, “you are contacting your people, I thought it safer for me to protect that.”

“Aw, you do care.”

“It is purely for selfish reasons. We both know Lexa would kill me if I knowingly let something happen to you.” The air around them tenses as soon as the words leave her lips, “Clarke, I'm-

Clarke holds her hand up to stop her, “don't. There's only one person to blame here and he is in a cell. There's been enough apologising for one day.”

Agreeing, Anya's shoulders relax a little and she looks around Clarke, “where is Lexa? I thought she would want to be here for this.”

“She did,” Clarke hums, “I told her I could handle it and sent her to rest. She hasn't slept in days.” 

Anya's brows furrow in a light glare, “what are your intentions with her?”

Eyes widening, Clarke grins, “is this the best friend talk? I've never had one of those before.” At Anya's look of confusion, her grin drops to a pout and she sighs, “look, I don't know. She just, she makes me feel normal.”

“You have had a very eventful time recently. I have watched you go from worried to angry, to sad, to happy and back around again in just half a day and I fear that with everything that has happened, you are confusing what you feel for something that lets you forget your issues regarding your people.” 

Clarke knows what Anya means, of course, but she can't help the steel that seeps into her voice when she replies, “that's not what I'm doing.” 

“For your sake, you had better hope that is true. Lexa is not my friend, she is my strisis, not in blood, but in spirit. I would die for Heda, Clarke, but I would give my life for Leksa.” 

And though the words mean the same, Clarke can tell by the tone in Anya's voice that there's a clear distinction. She softens. “Understood.” 

A clearing throat brings their attention to the now open door, showing Raven, “if you two are done with your,” she waves her hand between the two, “little bonding session,” she rolls her eyes, “your mom is on the radio, Clarke.” 

Clarke takes a deep breath, bracing herself, “right.”

She moves past Raven through the door and Anya goes to follow but a grip on her arm stops her with an accompanied scoff, “by the way, General Hardass, that was the best friend talk.”

Raven turns away into the room, Anya on her tail with a soft 'ah, got it' and they huddle around the radio in silence. Clarke takes another breath before pressing the button to connect them to the Ark, “hi, mom.”

“Clarke!” The occupants of the room flinch. “Honey, you're alive.”

“Yep.”

“Are you okay? Raven told me there are people already living on the ground? And the Mountain is occupied? How are they treating you? Have you been eating properly?” The questions rush out and a part of Clarke wants to smile, but the bigger part of her remembers how disgusted she is with the woman.

“Mom, slow down, we'll have time to catch up later. For now, we need to talk about you coming to the ground. The Commander-”

The voice on the other ends stops her. “Commander?”

“Yes, she is the leader of the people on the ground. When we landed we hit one of their villages, and there were,” she glances to Anya, “casualties.” She clears her throat, “we want to avoid that. We've been working with the grounders, learning to plant crops, what is edible and what is poisonousness, learning to hunt for food and natural medicines, build houses in an area that was gifted to us by the Woods Clan. We can teach our people too when you come down.” 

There's quiet for moments, Abby obviously processing Clarke's words, “what do you mean an area that was gifted to us? Our mission was to go to Mount Weather.”

Clarke rolls her eyes. “Mount Weather already has people living in it, and they are extremely dangerous. They've already taken thousands of people from the ground for god knows what, but they can't survive in this air-”

“We think they're trying to find a way to be able to walk outside without hazmat suits,” Raven cuts in, “but they keep the stronger Grounders' to turn into monsters, I think they're drugging them to make them compliant.”

Abby gasps over the radio, “Clarke are you in danger?” 

“No, no, we're fine as long as we stay in the perimeter of TonDC and the Commander has offered some of her warriors' to stay with Wells and those going back with him to the Dropship tomorrow.” Anya tilts her head at Clarke's choice of words, receiving a small smile in return. “Look, all this is redundant at the minute, we need to talk about when you land.”

“What do you mean?”

Clarke huffs, “I mean, we've sorted out a safe area for you to land in, where nobody will be harmed, Raven will send the coordinates over to you later. It's in the desert and it's about a two day walk from-”

“A two day walk in the desert? What about water? As soon as the system shuts down to land that means the filtering system will stop.”

“That's something you will have to figure out. You still have time on the Ark, just make sure you get plenty of supply before you close everything off. It's the only way we can guarantee nobody will die and going to war.”

Abby gasps again, “excuse me? War? I don't know who this Commander thinks she is but-”

“Enough, Abi kom Skaikru,” Anya steps in, “you will be invading our lands, now consciously aware that there are others on the ground. From what I hear things were run very differently under your peoples' ruling, but if you will be invading our lands, that means you will be following our laws.”

“And you would be?”

“My name is Anya, I am the Commander's General. She was merciful when you sent your children down here to die and they destroyed one of my villages, because she knew this to be an accident, but our people are still shaken, if you land in a way that could cause harm to us, the ones letting you into our land, she will not stop that war, and your people will be too weak from the crash to fight it.”

Clarke glares at her, as if saying 'too much', and Anya cocks her brow as if responding 'are you sure it wasn't enough?' before Abby's voice cracks over the radio again, “I assure you we mean no harm, we're just trying to survive.”

“That's what we're all trying to do, mom. Our best chance is working together with the Grounders, use each others knowledge, the Commander wants peace just as much as we do. They will teach us what I mentioned earlier, and we will help them take down the Mountain with our technology.”

“Take down the Mountain? Clarke what-”

“The Grounder blood obviously isn't working, Abby,” Raven cuts in again, “with us being in direct contact to radiation in the sky, they might start to broaden their horizons, A.K.A, us. This agreement is beneficial to everyone involved.”

Abby takes her time to answer, but when she does, Clarke feels like throwing up, “your dad would be proud of you,” and Clarke forgot that Wells and Monty were even in the room until one hand is on her lower back and the other on her shoulder respectively.

She doesn't shrug them off.

A sudden realisation hits her and she looks to Wells, his eyes downcast, “where's the Chancellor?”

“He's... recovering.”

“What do you mean recovering, Wells?” 

“He was shot,” Abby answers instead, “before you were sent down. He was in a coma for a few days, but he's awake now, once he's clear we'll start our preparations to come down. That actually brings me onto my next point. Raven has briefly updated me on things, and I am to understand Bellamy is in jail right now?”

Clarke nods even though she can't be seen, “yeah he's in a holding cell, why?” She swears, she swears she sees Anya smack her hand to her forehead and Raven laughs before it clicks, “oh. Oh, well, shit.”

“I have one condition for the Commander. I'll discuss the situation with Thelonious and Marcus and see what I can do, but in return I want Bellamy Blake punished by our laws.”

Clarke and Anya stare off again, Clarke knowing how much she wanted revenge on him, but Anya gives in with a sigh, “very well. The crime he committed was against your people first, we will hold him until your arrival.” 

“Good. Now Clarke, we still need-”

Watching Clarke's already clenched fists gripping the table harder, Wells speaks up, “actually Abby, we only had enough resources here to keep the radio going for a short time. When we get back to the Dropship tomorrow we can fix the radio properly and discuss details of the treaty the Commander and I set up further. You need to make sure you're with my dad, we need this alliance to stand if we have any chance of surviving.” Clarke mouths a 'thank you' to him, causing him to smile in return.

“Okay, tomorrow it is. I love you, Clarke, stay safe.”

She doesn't answer back, and she doesn't stay in the room long enough for Raven to shut the power down. She heads out of the door and leans over the ledge, gasping in puffs of air to try and settle her stomach. She doesn't notice the tears flowing freely from her eyes and she doesn't notice Anya standing behind her until her breaths have calmed. She wipes furiously at her face and laughs at herself as she addressed Anya, “you must think we're so weak sometimes.”

“Yes.” Clarke glares at her. “But not in the way you are thinking. I actually believe what you did in there, putting aside your issues with your nomon for the greater good of your people, was a vast show of strength. She was right, Clarke, your father would be proud of you,” Anya lets out a rare show of a smile, “Skai Bandrona,” Clarke tilts her head in confusion, “ambassador.”

“I'm not-”

“Lexa asked you to be the spokesperson for your people, did she not? Wells may be leading your kru at their camp, but after our fight with the Maunon, Lexa will need to leave to head back to Polis, and it will be you that speaks in both her and your peoples' name, making decisions on what is best for both of our people in her absence. That sounds like an ambassador to me.” She takes a breath. “Wells Jaha will be a good leader, but I still do not trust your so-called Council.” 

Clarke furrows her brows, “you aren't going back to the Capitol with her after it's over.” It's a statement, but one that is answered anyway.

Shaking her head, Anya sighs, “I have offered my services to the Dropship, at least until things settle once we have taken down the Mountain. However; that is not today, or even tomorrow, do not worry, you still have my company for a little while longer,” she smirks.

“Awesome.” 

Anya grows serious, “if you need to talk,” she looks pointedly over to Lexa's tent, “you are not the only one to have suffered loss. You are not alone in the way you feel right now, we have all been where are you.” 

Clarke smiles, eyes tearing up again, but for once not in anger, “mochof, Onya.”

“You are welcome, Clarke.”

The grounds are quiet on her way back, only the occasional laughter or talking flowing around her on the short trip. Most of the candles have been put out so there's just enough light that Clarke won't knock into anything and she blows them out on her way to the curtain. Pushing it to one-side, she rolls her eyes when she sees Lexa laying in bed with a book in her hands, “I thought I told you to rest.”

Lexa's slight smirk is the only thing that tells her, her remark was acknowledged. She sits on the edge of the bed, taking her boots off as Lexa speaks up, “so, will our people be going to war?” 

Clarke scoffs, “we will be going to war if you don't put that damn book down.” She stands, shrugging off her trousers and jacket and stops herself from biting her bottom lip when Lexa's gaze trails over her, book swiftly abandoned on the floor next to the bed. She hesitates a moment, glancing at herself to the bed to Lexa before huffing at herself and getting in.

She feels Lexa tense next to her.

Laying down, Clarke blows out the candle on her side of the bed and turns to face away from Lexa, taking a deep breath, “his name was Jake. My dad. His name was Jake.” 

Lexa blows out her own candle, the small make-shift room now in complete darkness- comfort, and she shifts down, facing the ceiling of the tent, “tell me about him.”

“He was... amazing. I look like him. He was an environmental engineer and he found a system failure with the Ark's oxygen system and he wanted to tell everyone, let them make up their own mind on how to save our future, but mom wouldn't let him. I caught them arguing about it and found him making a video to release to inform everybody, I wanted to help him and he wouldn't let me, but then he was taken away, floated by one of his best friends... we all used to watch soccer matches together for fuck sake!” 

Her anger hits her again at full-force, but Lexa's hand now on her hip calms her to a shaky breath, “it's okay, take your time.”

“I blamed Wells for telling the Chancellor, you know that, but it was my mom and I don't know if I can ever forgive her. It wasn't just her husband and my dad that she had a hand in killing. It was somebody that stood up for what he believed in, somebody that was fiercely loyal to the ones he loved, somebody who was kind and honest. But I guess it doesn't matter what kind of person you are in the end. And then I was locked up because I knew about it and didn't want to keep it a secret like he didn't, got sent down here and well, here we are.” 

It's quiet for what feels like eternity to Clarke, but eventually Lexa manages, “he sounds like a good man. I'm sorry that happened to you.” Slowly, Clarke turns to face Lexa, the hand that was on her hip now combing back a stray piece of hair, “thank you for telling me.”

Clarke shuffles forward until she's laying with her head on Lexa's shoulder, “thank you for listening. It feels good to get out.” Her thumb starts an absent minded pattern along Lexa's ribs and she ignores the sharp intake of breath because now really isn't the time, “what's Polis like?”

Lexa's shoulders relax and she lets a soft, relieved sigh escapes through her lips, smile in her voice, “it's amazing. Busy. There are plenty of places to buy or trade merchandise such as furs, clothes and gifts, children run around playing and learning. There are large buildings and small houses, it's very homely. It is truly beautiful, Clarke. If you should decide to join me there, I believe you will completely fall in love with all it has to offer.”

Lifting her head to rest on her hand, Clarke looks down at Lexa in the darkness, “you make it sound very charming. How could I refuse that?”

“Well I am hoping you don't.”

Clarke's gaze flicks between Lexa's eyes and her lips, and before she has a chance to second guess herself she leans down, watching Lexa's eyes close as she presses just one slow, small, whisper of a kiss against her mouth before taking her place back at Lexa's shoulder, closing her own eyes and nuzzling into the neck her nose is pressed against, “goodnight, Lexa.”

Lexa hasn't slept so peacefully in a long time.


	8. Chapter 8

Clarke wakes alone with a frown, the cold bed telling her that Lexa had been up for quite some time, though there's the faint lingering scent of her that Clarke can't help breathing in just that little deeper to cling on to. The deep, earthy smell she's quickly come accustomed to since being on the ground with something almost floral hidden beneath it, comforting her in ways she could only ever dream of. 

She comes into consciousness slowly, the strong emotions that were piling up on her yesterday fading in the early morning glow that graces the tent. 

Her moves are unhurried as she gets up, washes her face and changes into the clean clothes that are always laid out for her on the table, and the smell of freshly baked bread- another divine smell her nose adjusted to far too fast- reminds her that she didn't eat last night.

Clarke comes to a halt as soon as she pulls back the curtain to the secluded area of Lexa's bed and her eyes widen in glee and confusion when she spots pieces of parchment paper under several different styles of charcoal on the war table. 

Her fingers run timidly over the art supplies as they begin itching to draw and she wastes no time in tearing off a chunk of bread, filling a cup of water, grabbing a piece of parchment and a random stick of charcoal and settles in on Lexa's throne, bread and water on the left armrest so she can lean into the right and curls her legs up to to use her knees as something solid to draw against.

She spends minutes just drawing squiggly lines, using them for shading techniques and pressure depths before a voice interrupts her, “knock, knock.”

Her eyes dart up for a second before refocussing on her task, “Raven, hey.”

Raven smirks, “should I start calling you Commander now?”

Clarke blushes, standing from Lexa's throne. Hands black from the charcoal, she sets everything back on the war table, “what's up?”

“I owe you an apology.” Clarke's head tilts in confusion, but Raven cuts her off as she opens her mouth in question, “I thought I saw something I didn't yesterday. When I saw you and Finn, I thought- I thought that-” 

A look of understanding passes over Clarke's face and she sighs, “don't worry about it. I probably would've thought the same thing. You don't owe me anything.” 

Raven nods, but the apologetic expression is still there. “My mom used to trade our food rations for booze. On the Ark, I mean, obviously,” she blurts out and the same tilted head of confusion graces Clarke once more, “I don't know what happened, but there's obviously some tension with you and Abby. Well, with you,” she chuckles causing Clarke to grin slightly, “and well, I get it, wanting to hate your mom for something shitty that she's done but not really being able to properly, because she's your mom, you know?” 

She doesn't know. She really doesn't know but Clarke smiles anyway, grateful that Raven's at least trying.

“And Finn was always there for me. He made sure I was being fed and looked after me and-” she stops herself, clearing her throat, “I guess what I'm saying is that it's a pretty fucked up situation all round and if this, second chance I suppose, at life down here is anything to go by, we should stop dwelling on the past and hope the best is yet to come.” She ends her rant with a small shrug, glancing down at her feet as she shifts from side to side and it's so different from the over confident Raven that Clarke has gotten to know these past few days that she can't help but laugh.

Clarke surges forward to hug her, pulling the stiff figure against her harder and whispers, “I think we're going to be just fine, you and me.” 

Raven relaxes against her for a moment before shoving her away, wiping at a shed tear in the corner of her eye and snorts, “it's way too early for this emotional crap, Griff. I'm packed and ready to go to the Dropship, I'm just waiting for those losers to finish up. Let's go get some air.” 

TonDC is buzzing with energy, the remaining delinquents saying goodbye to both the Grounders' they had befriended and the others that won't be joining them at the Dropship, most staying within the Woods Clan and some others heading to the Boat Clan or Shallow Valley, both of which Lexa had heard back from with open acceptance. 

Clarke still isn't sure how she managed to train an eagle to deliver these letters.

She's brought from her pondering with a sharp slap to the chest, “Raven what the-” Raven grabs her chin, pointing her head in the direction of the training grounds where she sees Lexa and Anya facing off and her mouth drops open, eyes wide, “holy-”

“Shit,” Raven finishes. She pulls Clarke over to a log that gives them the perfect view. “A bottle of Monty's moonshine that Anya wins.”

Clarke scoffs, “oh you are so on.” 

Anya and Lexa are still circling one another, staffs gripped tight and by the rise and fall of their chests, they've been at this for a while. Raven scoffs, “please. Anya trained Lexa, Clarke, she's so got this.”

“Exactly, she knows Lexa's every move, which means Lexa won't use them in a way Anya will anticipate,” she grins.

Raven raises her eyebrow, “you're deluded.”

“We'll see.” 

Octavia bounces up to them, not paying attention to the same sceptical they are, “hey guys. You'll never guess what,” she smiles proud, but Clarke and Raven pay her no mind, “Indra called me a Sky Warrior yesterday. How fucking cool is that? Yeah, she said whenever I want to I-” 

Her sentence turns to random garbling when Raven's hand finds her mouth, “shush.” 

Frowning, Octavia bats her hand away before glancing up to the training area and laughs, “aren't you supposed to be with Finn, Reyes?”

And of course Octavia doesn't know yet, after spending all of her time with Indra. Raven glowers, “sore subject. Bottling up anger. Gonna use it to slap him. Hard.” All of her words are mumbled, her focus solely on the scene in front of them, but Clarke nods along with her and Octavia furrows her brows, giving herself a mental reminder to ask about it later. Lexa nor Anya have still yet to make a move, and Clarke smirks when Raven's leg starts bouncing in frustration, imagining a drunk Lexa on Monty's moonshine. “Somebody do something already!” 

Clarke's smirk widens at Raven's yell when she watches Anya's gaze shift to them and Lexa takes her opening, staff under Anya's legs causing her to fall on her back. She doesn't stay down long, quickly on the counter attack but Lexa holds her back, barely breaking a sweat.

It's not long until Anya grunts, swiftly ridding herself of her top, leaving her in just black bindings, almost what they'd call a sports bra and Raven gasps, “Jesus Christ, give me strength.”

Clarke laughs, “control your thirst, Reyes.” Octavia snickers beside them.

They watch as Indra sneaks up behind, trying to take Lexa off guard but she swings around, hitting her square in the jaw. Raven sees Monty out of the corner of her eyes and waves him over, “I need a bottle of moonshine.” He looks affronted. “Oh don't give me that look, I know you're packing. I'll even give you sexual favours in return.”

As she wiggles her eyebrows, Monty tries not to grimace and Raven tries not to look too offended, “hard pass, thanks,” he produces a bottle from his bag and shoves it in her hands, “just take it.”

She does so happily, wordlessly passing it to Clarke who grins in victory.

The fight goes on like this, both Anya and Indra trying to get just one hit in against Lexa who beats them off as if she were flicking a ball of paper and it's minutes later that she swings her staff to knock Indra back to the floor, end steady against her throat and kicks out to Anya who flies back a few feet landing with a loud thud. All four of their mouths drop open in surprise. Octavia's eyes widen in awe, “fuck she's strong. Did you know she was that strong?”

Clarke gulps, “nope.”

Fight firmly over, Lexa helps both Indra and Anya up before accepting a jug of water from one of the on-lookers, pouring it over herself and it's Clarke's turn to gape. Raven chuckles, “control your thirst, Griffin,” she mimics.

“Shut up.”

Monty jokingly mumbles something about 'women' and trudges off.

-

“Show off,” Anya grunts as Lexa lifts her up.

“I do not know what you mean,” Lexa grins smugly, taking an opportunity to grab a jug of water. She doesn't really need it, she didn't exert herself enough to use it, and she was going to pour it in a cup, but when she looks over at Clarke, she can't help but pour it over her head, letting the water drip over her muscles in the glowing morning sun.

Anya snorts, “oh really? So you did not purposely use your Spirit given extra strength because we acquired an audience?” Indra grunts her agreement, shaking her head and walking off to prepare for the ride to the Dropship after being told it was her responsibility to get Bellamy there securely.

Lexa pointedly looks at Anya's upper body, raising her brow, “yes, just like you did not purposely take your shirt off, I assume.” 

“I know not what you accuse me of.” Humming in blatant disbelief, Lexa grins, takes a cloth and towel-dries her hair gently, hoping her braids hold tight enough to stop the fuzz the humidity of the sun will cause. Anya sees her fingers get fidgety against her side, “you went quite hard in training, when did you last shift?”

They begin walking towards Clarke, Raven and Octavia, speaking in hushed whispers. Lexa sighs, “yesterday, but it was not for long and I did not do much. I need to run, or hunt, or something. It is very restricting and draining not being in Polis where I can shift freely.”

Anya nods, “maybe after our talk with the Chancellor you can go and hunt something for the Skaikru to eat. There will not be many you need to hide from and there is more wildlife in that area. It will also be a long ride to the Dropship with them having to walk and none will have the strength to continue their training by that time.” 

A smile is Lexa's confirmation as they come within hearing distance of the three, “Okteivia, Reivon,” she greets formally, but relaxes when her gaze meets the last, “Clarke.” She catches herself at Raven's amused smirk and looks back to Octavia, “Indra tells me she has welcomed you here to train, you must have impressed her greatly.” 

Octavia beams, “yeah, I've already learnt so much from her, but I still don't know what I'm going to do. If I'm going to stay here with Bell or go to the Dropship for Lin-” she cuts herself off at Anya's glare, but notices Lexa, Raven and Clarke seem to be having a silent conversation. “What?”

“Your people requested that Bellamy Blake be punished by them, I have agreed to their condition so long as our treaty-”

“Wait, wait,” Octavia cuts in, “you've made contact with the Ark?” She sneers at Clarke and Raven, “and you didn't think to tell me?” She glances back to Lexa and Anya, “and why do they want Bell?”

Raven's eyes dart to the ground, so Clarke speaks up, “I thought Indra would've told you this morning,” she shrugs, ignoring Octavia's 'I haven't seen her this morning' and continues, “we got in touch with the Ark last night. It was my mom on the radio,” she pauses, staring Octavia in the eye, “Bellamy shot Jaha right before we were sent down here, he put him in a coma but he's getting better. I don't even know if Bellamy knows he's still alive.”

“No, no, he would never-”

“He did, O.” Clarke's tone is final, leaving no room for argument. “He's going back to the Dropship and the Council will decide what to do with him.”

Octavia's eyes surprisingly plead with Lexa, taking them all back a little, “can't you do something? It's your land right? They'll kill him.”

Lexa frowns, “did you think I would not?” They halt, because they know, they know eventually Lexa would've had him killed, she was just biding her time, and Clarke has to take an extra moment to digest that. “I think you misunderstand my laws. Although I am Heda of the coalition, the clans still work in separate ways. If one of them are to commit a crime against another, they will face Kongeda laws, but if they are to commit a crime against their own people, their punishment will be as their clan's leader deems fit.” She takes a breath, avoiding eye contact with Clarke, but still standing strong. “Your brother's crime was against your people first, therefore he will await his fate at the Dropship until the Ark comes down.” 

“I- I have to go see him. Excuse me.” She bows, “General, Heda.” Lexa's title is laced with venom, and she shares a look with Clarke and Raven before storming off.

Raven rocks back and fourth on her feet, “well that went well.” 

Lexa clears her throat, “the Shallow Valley King has already been to collect those who are going with him. He is a very kind man, wise beyond his years, they will learn how to craft in clay. He supplies most of the clans with crockery.” She lifts a cup off of a nearby table to show them the bottom, what they can only assume is the Shallow Valley symbol etched into it. 

There's still awkwardness surrounding the air and Anya looks to Raven, “are you almost ready to go?” Raven nods. “Good, you can come and help me get the others' ready.” They walk off leaving Lexa and Clarke alone.

“Are you okay?”

Clarke takes a deep breath, “I just, I know this is how things work down here, but knowing it and hearing it confirmed are two different things.” 

Lexa swallows hard when Clarke's deep blue gaze meets her own, and she forces her eyes to drop to Clarke's hand, grip tight around the glass bottle, “what's that?” 

A small smile finds its way across Clarke lips, and she shakes the bottle slightly, “it's moonshine. A gift. I thought once we've spoken to Jaha and everything goes alright we could celebrate.” 

“I would like that.” A throat clears to the side of them and Lexa stands straight, the Commander firmly back in place as she turns, but she relaxes again with a quirk of her mouth, arm reaching out to clasp the arm in front of her, “Derrick, it is good to see you my friend.”

He laughs, deep and welcoming, “it has been a long time, Commander.”

Lexa joins his laughter, “please, there is no need for such formalities,” she turns so she has an even view of both of them, “Clarke, this is Derik kom Floukru, he is the Captain of the Boat People, Derrick, this is Klark kom Skaikru, she is to be the mediator between our people and the Sky People.”

Clarke holds her hand out to shake his, but before she can speak, a loud , angry scream echoes through the grounds and her head spins to watch Wells falling to his knees, hand over his throat, and Charlotte standing over him, yelling. “Shit!”

They rush over, the screams getting more profound, “it's your fault! You killed them!”

Wells is gasping for air as they reach him, Clarke quick to grab any random cloths she sees around her and Lexa restraining Charlotte, knocking the knife from her hand, though her shouts are still going strong. Lexa looks to Tris, “what happened?”

“I do not know, Heda, we have been meditating nearly all week to control the hidden anger like Onya taught me and she seemed to be getting better, she was so excited when we heard word of the Skaikru going back to their camp, and then she saw him and attacked. I do not know where she got the knife.” Her head lowers, “I am sorry.”

Charlotte is still thrashing in Lexa's arms and she looks over to Derrick, “take Tris and get Nyko, explain the situation, he knows what to do.” She waits until they leave before she directs her question at Clarke, “will he live?”

Clarke lets out a breath, “yeah, the cut's deep and he's lost a lot of blood already, but she didn't hit anything major. Once I control the bleeding, I can stitch him up.”

“He deserves to die!”

“Be quiet! You almost killed an innocent man, Charlotte, what the fuck were you thinking?”

Lexa's voice quiets to a whisper, “Clarke.”

Nyko is at their side in record speed, pulling a vial of clear liquid to force down Charlotte's neck and Clarke gasps in shock, “what is that?”

“Something to make her sleep,” his gruff voice answers and Clarke looks between the bottle and Wells, watching the concoction already effecting Charlotte. 

“Give me that.” She practically snatches the offered bottle out of Nyko's grasp, pouring it into Wells' mouth, “he's panicking, and it's making his heart speed up causing more blood to pour out of the wound, I need his heart rate to slow,” she explains unnecessarily, “Nyko, do you have a needle and thread with you?”

By this time Charlotte is limp in Lexa's arms. She lays her softly on the ground, watching Clarke and Nyko work in near perfect unison to heal Wells in awe, “where is Tris?”

“I believe she went to find Anya, Heda.”

Lexa clears her throat, looking back over to Derrick but addressing Nyko, “she will be asleep for some time, I trust you will make sure she stays that way?” She doesn't need to hear a response to know he agrees. “Derrick, may we speak in private?” She doesn't wait for him before she starts walking to the forest.

Once they are clear of prying ears, Derrick doesn't let her speak, “I know what you are going to ask, Lexa, and the answer is no.”

“She is just a child. She has more unobtainable anger in her than I have ever seen in someone so young. Being around violence will only make her worse, she needs a peaceful environment. She needs help that no other clan is capable of giving her.”

Derrick sighs, “if she loses control and hurts somebody-”

“Then Luna may punish her as she sees.” Lexa comes to a stop, watching a stag rummaging through the woods, and Derrick doesn't notice at first, but the scruffs of black fur at the base of his antlers give him away. “Orin has been staying as his stag more and more recently. I fear one day he will remain that way and forget the man he is.” 

“She isn't ready.”

Lexa rolls her eyes, “it has been six years. Her brother needs her. He can only try to contact her so many times. It is not a simple walk to get to your clan, after all. Only Luna can stop him from fully becoming his animal, or she will lose him forever. I understand she feels guilty for almost killing him in the conclave, but she is also aware that he does not blame her for this, and things are different now.”

“I will speak with her.” 

“That is all I ask.”

-

“C'mon Wells, you can't die on me now, you dick.” She's already managed to do the majority of stitches, but there's still blood seeping out, even with his slowed heartbeat, that Nyko is trying to wipe away as quickly as possible whilst also studying Clarke's technique. 

It takes a few more minutes with her shaky hands, and it's a rushed, rough job, but it will do what it needs to and Nyko's mouth quirks, impressed, “you have good hands.” 

“Not the first time I've been told that,” she mumbles in a joke.

Nyko doesn't bite, however. “You have the hands of a healer.”

Clarke smiles small, “thank you. There wasn't much to do on the Ark, really. I spent most of my time either drawing or playing chess with Wells, but sometimes I'd watch my mom or dad work. I never really understood what my dad was doing, but I used to copy what my mom did on pretty much anything I could get a hold of.”

“Healing like this, putting people back together, can be an art form of it's own.” He looks down to Wells, “you care for him.”

“He's my best friend,” she shrugs, “I've been angry at him and I would never forgive myself if he dies without us making up.”

“In that case he is lucky to have a friend like you. I have no doubt you will reconcile once he is well.” He sees Clarke look towards the empty vials and then to the set that rests on his hip, “they are medicines from local plants, as well as some brought in by the Glowing Forest and Broadleaf clans that we are unable to get a hold of. I would be happy to teach you, we could maybe even work on the Ripas' together.”

“I'd appreciate that.”

Lexa approaches quietly and Clarke watches as Derrick picks up Charlotte, while Nyko picks up Wells, both carry them off the their respective destinations. Clarke looks at her confused. “I have asked for Charlotte to be taken to the Boat People, I believe their serenity will help calm her mind. Nyko will be getting Wells ready for safe transport to the Dropship.” Clarke only nods. “I saw what you were thinking when Nyko poured the liquid down Charlotte's throat,” Clarke goes to cut her off but Lexa holds up her hand, “do not play me for a fool, Clarke,” she sneers, “I know you first thought it to be poison, but I would never have a child killed under my order.”

Clarke scoffs, “what did you expect me to think? So what, you won't kill children? That sounds awfully familiar.” She takes a step towards her, sneer of her own, “you know there is a lot different about here and the Ark, but sometimes, just sometimes you might as well be the fucking same.” 

Closing her eyes, Lexa takes in a deep, steady breath, “you already knew what my ruling of Bellamy would have been, just as you know my ruling of Finn will be banishment. I have to put my people first.”

Clarke takes another step, “you said earlier that you wouldn't get involved if a person did something to their own people. Last I checked, Finn didn't do anything to one of yours.” 

“In that case,” her eyes turn to fire, and if Clarke wasn't so frustrated herself, it probably would've caused her to take a step back, “he shall join our journey to the Dropship and Wells Jaha can decide his fate when he wakes.” She forces herself to calm, licking her lips and setting her jaw, “you cannot always take your anger out on me, Clarke. If you genuinely disagree with a decision I make regarding your people, please feel free to speak up, but you know full well that I have not made any unjust judgements.” 

And honestly, being called out like that makes Clarke feel terrible. “I know,” she sighs, “I'm sorry.”

Lexa smirks, “I also told you that you need never say sorry to me.”

“Sorry.” Clarke laughs, “sorry. Thank you... for the art supplies. I meant to earlier, but well, yeah. How did you know I liked to draw?”

“Wells told me and you are welcome,” she lies, rapidly changing the subject, “Derrick will be leaving very soon, I suggest you say your goodbyes to those you know and those that will be staying here, we have a long trip ahead of us.” Clarke smiles softly, making her way to leave, but Lexa's hand on her wrist stops her, “he did, by the way.” Clarke's head tilts, puzzled. “He did do something to one of mine.” 

Her breath hitches, and Lexa stares at her in that piercing way that only Lexa can.

“Yo, Griff!” Raven's yell brings her out of the moment, and she catches Lexa's amused grin before she turns to look over to her, atop Anya's horse with Anya in front of her, Wells' carriage attached to the horse's reins and saddle. Octavia is stewing next to Indra and Gustus who are also on horses, rope between them designed to drag Bellamy along. Monty and Jasper are off to the side, Jasper trying to get on the wagon with Wells and being shoved away by Luca. There is a group of mixed Sky People and Grounders hanging behind; including Aden and Tris, and finally the empty horse that is obviously Lexa's has Ryder standing next to it and he has a tight grip on the back of Finn's neck. “Hurry up and get your shit together, we need to leave.” 

“Finn-” Clarke starts to say to Lexa.

“You did not believe I would leave him here, out of my sight did you?”

Clarke almost laughs, “of course you wouldn't. Right, let's do this. Together.”

She turns and Lexa follows with a smile, “together.”


	9. Chapter 9

The silence is only slightly uncomfortable on the way to the Dropship, even Jasper had gone quiet after Anya shot Finn's constant apologising to Raven down with a firm glare when she felt her tense in her position behind her. None of the Skaikru have bothered asking what happened to Wells or why Finn and Bellamy are tied up, too focused on themselves and the Grounders wouldn't question Lexa.

Clarke is quite relieved she doesn't have to explain anything.

There's the occasional murmur from the group following them, the mix of Grounders and Sky People that bring up the rare still getting to know each other, discussing what line of training they would like- crop growing, hunting, fighting, healing, crafting- and who is best suited to that role. 

For instance, when Harper says she'd like to try crafting, Luca out right laughs at her and tells her she is built to hunt, her question of 'how would you know that?' and his response of 'I just do, you will join me. If you do not like it, you may craft, but I do believe hunting is best suited for you' seals her training.

“Well I'm obviously going to keep training with Indra.” Octavia ignores Bellamy's outrage about her putting herself in dangerous situations.

“Of course you will, Skaigona, you are a born warrior,” Indra scoffs as if it were obvious.

Since there is a large group of people, it is taking them far longer to get there than they'd like, even longer the fact that the Sky People grow tired rather fast, slowing them down more so.

Clarke is constantly looking back to the wagon Wells is laying on, keeping a close eye that his chest is still rising and falling in steady breaths and Luca gives her an encouraging smile every time he catches her eyes. 

Jasper groans from his spot next to Monty, catching Luca's focus on Harper as they converse about hunting techniques and what bow length would be best for her for archery, and takes the opportunity to jump on the back of the wagon. He isn't there for more than five seconds before Luca pushes him back off without even glancing in his direction, “c'mon! We've been walking for ages! Why do Clarke and Raven get an easy ride?”

“Clarke and Wells have been working with us to keep you all alive,” Anya starts, the tone of her voice showing the boredom in her answer, “Raven has been constantly working all hours to make contact with your people. As well as Monty, who I am sure if he would like could ride with Gustus.” Gustus glares at her, but nods reluctantly.

Monty smiles, “I'm fine thanks, I'm enjoying the walk.” 

“I am also sure that if Octavia wanted to she could ride with Indra, since she has been learning more about our people and ways, learning our language faster than some of our warriors learn Gonasleng,” Anya continues.

“Mochof, Onya. Ai baliak yur sleng bitam,” Octavia says in a near perfect accent, as if proving her point.

Anya almost smiles. “What I am saying, is that there are people within your clan that are working towards a better future for both of our people, yet I have seen you do little more than lay around eating nuts that are slowly poisoning you to get, what is the word you use? Oh yes, high. So tell me Jasper, what is it that you do that deserves an, easy ride, as you so eloquently put it?”

Raven gapes behind her, Octavia shakes her head and Clarke shoves her face into Lexa's neck to stifle her giggle as Jasper's mouth hangs open with a squeak, Monty patting his back lightly, “they're poisonous?” He spits out the mouthful he has just put in, “why didn't anyone tell me? Oh my god, am I going to die?”

“Be calm, Jasper of the Sky People,” Lexa speaks up with a chuckle, “stop eating them and they will flow out of your system naturally. Though you will experience some... side effects. I did go over this in the meeting, you obviously were not paying attention.”

He glares to his side, “Monty?”

Monty shrugs, “what? It's not my fault you weren't listening.”

“Some friend you are,” he grumbles, “anyway, I was helping. I made sure that Raven and Monty always had food and water.”

Raven scoffs, “no, you got a plate for yourself and you said we could have whatever was left over, which wasn't often. Anya was the one supplying us.”

Jasper rolls his eyes, “so what side effects we talking about?”

Lexa hums thoughtfully, “hallucinations, insomnia, headaches, shaking, muscle aches, paranoia, vomiting, diarrhoea-”

“Okay, okay,” he holds his hands up, “I get it. I'll just shut up and walk.”

“How much longer?” Bellamy's voice brings the playful ease of the group down and Lexa straightens her back, knocking Clarke's chin with her shoulder.

“Roughly thirty minutes.”

He grunts, eyes looking over to Octavia, “O, I only did this to protect you. Everything I did was to make sure you were safe, Jaha never would've let me come down here and-”

“Stop it, Bell,” she sighs, “I don't even know who you are anymore.”

“They're going to kill me. Can you live with that?”

The silence grows awkward, and Raven tries to break it, “well they can't float you, you know, since we aren't in space anymore.” She taps her chin in excitement, “I mean, I could, if the Dropship still has working engines I could totally build-”

“Not helping, Rae,” Clarke scolds.

“Right.”

The quiet surrounds them again, the sounds of nature filling the air and Clarke spots a deer off to the side with a smile and a whisper in Lexa's ear, “Lex, look over there.”

Lexa clears her throat at the nickname.

She smiles, knowing Clarke can only see the 'nice' side of the animal and prepares herself for when it turns around. As if on cue, the deer whips around when it hears it's not alone and Clarke gasps at it's second, mutated face, “what the hell is that?” 

Raven hears it, glancing in the same direction and laughs, “it was probably what the radiation caused, not everything in the world can be pretty, Clarke, look at Jasper.”

“Fuck off.”

Lexa laughs quietly, so only Clarke can hear, “it is a survival technique given by the Spirit. The second face gives off the smell of rotting flesh which most predators will turn away from, thinking that the meat is not edible. Humans, however, do not have the profound sense of smell that other animals have, so the second face also acts as shock value. If you are not used to seeing these things, like your people, the temporary confusion is often enough to alert the deer, giving it time to run away.”

Clarke frowns, “if humans can't smell it, how do you know?”

“My night blood enhances my abilities. It gives me heightened senses, I can see, hear and smell much better than everybody else, and it gives me extra advantages such as speed and strength.”

Snuggling closer, Clarke takes her hands from Lexa's hips and wraps them around her midsection, smirking at the gasp that shows Lexa had forgotten they aren't alone, “so that's how you knocked Anya and Indra on their asses without breaking a sweat? I have to say, that was very impressive.”

“I assure you, Clarke, I am more than capable of beating them both in a sparring session without them.”'

Clarke lifts her mouth up to Lexa's ear, the usual husk in her voice a few octaves lower, “I don't doubt that for a second, Heda.”

The sounds of Raven's laughter pulls Lexa back to reality and she straightens up again, all business, “have you decided what you would like to learn down here?”

“Everything. Well, maybe not hand-to-hand combat,” Clarke chuckles, “but I think once we head back to TonDC I'm going to work with Nyko for however long we're there.”

Lexa smiles softly, “that is a wise choice, Nyko is the best at what he does.” She feels Clarke look back towards Wells, “what will you be telling his father?”

Clarke sighs, “there's no way Thelonious will trust your people if he finds out about this, even if it was one of ours that did it. I'll just tell him Wells is busy getting everyone settled in or something.”

Making a noise of acknowledgement, Lexa nods, “also a wise choice.”

“I can make them sometimes.” She grins into the back of Lexa's shoulder and they travel the rest of the way in a quiet bubble.

Being back at the Dropship feels strange, even though it wasn't too long ago that she got kicked out of it. After Raven has marvelled at all the 'toys' she could play with and things she could make, Monty and her set about getting the radio connected to the Ark and figuring out a way to have constant power running through it. The rest work with the Grounders to start work on making their camp a home, most forgoing sleeping in the Dropship.

The heavy smell of metal has a lot of Lexa's people twitching their noses and she keeps a close eye on them since there are those that offered to come that lost family and friends when the Dropship landed; Quint being among them. 

Anya and Luca have taken a small group to the lake to collect water, showing them the best area to avoid the creatures that populate it and how to properly boil and filter it so it's safe to drink; Aden and Tris are teaching the younger members of the Sky People how to build and start fire pits to keep them warm through the night; Indra, Gustus and Octavia are building a shack for food storage and Ryder is going through the process of the best ways to keep their stock fresh as well as some easy cooking classes and finally a few of her healers are helping Clarke set up a small medical bay inside the Dropship.

That leaves Lexa with Finn and Bellamy.

“Commander?” She rolls her eyes turning to them and raises an eyebrow at Finn to continue. “I can only apologize once again for my actions, but I want to help. I know I don't deserve forgiveness from Clarke and Raven, and I'll do my best to stay out of their way, but I really, really want to do something to redeem myself. Please, please let me at least do something useful. Anything.” 

Lexa considers it for a moment, watching Finn hang his head in defeat before she moves behind him to untie his restraints. He lets out a sigh of relief and stands up, shaking out his sore limbs, “thank y-”

He's cut off abruptly when Lexa's suddenly unsheathed sword is pointing at his nether regions, her smirk dangerous as she watches his throat rise and fall in a gulp, “I do not understand why your culture seems to think it is acceptable to do what you want to whomever you want whenever you want, and I do not plan to understand either. Trikru are taught as children to respect those they care for. If a person has not shown interest in you, you do not pursue them, it is as simple as that. If they do show interest, you are both equal in your relationship. We do not try over and over again, going so far as to back them into a corner,” her voice turns to a growl, “and we most certainly do not hurt those we already claim to care about for another.”

His rapid nods go unnoticed.

“Clarke will not tell me what you said to her, but I know that it was enough to make her doubt herself as not only a leader, a leader that I need for our treaty, but as a person. This is not a place for games, this is survival, and the sooner you stop acting like a spoilt child that thinks he is entitled to anything he wants, the better off you will be. Now, if I ever see you disrespecting a person like the way you did both Raven and Clarke,” she stabs the sword forward, not enough to cut, but enough to feel the sharp tip, “I will make sure this is unusable. Do I make myself clear, Finn Collins?”

“Crystal.” 

Her smirk disappears, face neutral, “good. Report to Quint, you can help him build shelter.”

He practically runs to him, hands shaking and not even batting an eye as Quint yells at him for dropping things. “I suppose I have no chance of getting free, right?”

Lexa turns, her expression not in the least apologetic or tone remotely concerned, “you are a bargaining chip, Bellamy Blake, to help things run smoothly. You are not a risk I am willing to take.” 

She notices Clarke making her way towards her out of the corner of her eye. “Lexa!” she shouts, causing a few heads to turn in their direction and Lexa raises a brow in warning, Clarke clearing her throat. “Commander,” she corrects herself, “we have Jaha on the radio.” 

Lexa tilts her head to Ryder who takes over watch without question. They make their way through the Dropship and up a ladder to where Raven and Monty are waiting patiently, Raven already working on something else and Monty giving his input occasionally. Raven gives Lexa the go ahead to speak whenever she wants after she clicks a button that connects them to the Ark, “Chancellor Jaha?”

“The Commander, I assume?” Raven snorts when Lexa jumps back slightly, gaze dashing all over the room at the voice. She'd taken the piss out of Anya when she had the same reaction to Abby's voice yesterday, but she didn't think she'd receive the same joking reception from Lexa.

Clearing her throat, Lexa glares at Raven before continuing to address the radio, “yes. Your son and I have been working to form a treaty between our people. It is my understanding that you did not know this land has occupants and your mission was to find Mount Weather as a safe house of sorts, but I am afraid that is not possible. The Mountain already has it's own civilisation within it's walls and is surrounded by acid fog. There is no way to get within it's parameter without them enabling the fog.”

“Yes, Abby informed me of this. Where is my son, Commander? I would like to speak with him.”

Clarke speaks up before Lexa has the chance, “Wells is helping the delinquents build in this area. The Commander has been kind enough to offer us land and teachings in return for our help against the Mountain Men.” 

“Abby told me this also, Clarke.” She rolls her eyes. “So why should we work with you? Why wouldn't we just go to Mount Weather where we have all the resources we need?”

“If my mother has been so informative,” Clarke begins, sarcasm lacing her tone, “she would've told you that the people in the Mountain, want to get out. In order to do that they need blood that has survived radiation. The fact is that they still have to go outside in hazmat suits, so obviously whatever they are doing to the Grounders' they take isn't working for them. Raven thinks that because of the radiation in space, our blood might do the trick. If you land near the Mountain, you'll be sending all of your people to their deaths. But,” she laughs, the sarcasm turning dark, “you already know all about that, don't you?”

Thelonious scoffs, “I sent the hundred of you down there to give you a chance at survival, Clarke.”

“You sent us down here as guinea pigs. It's not us I'm talking about though.” 

Lexa places a hand at the small of Clarke's back for comfort and clears her throat, “we all do what we must to survive, Chancellor. Our people working together is what is best for that survival. Those at the Mountain are monsters, they will not think twice about using your people for their own benefit.”

“I have looked at the coordinates that Raven has sent over and compared it to an old world map. It will take us longer than two days to get there with the amount of people, equipment and resources I will be bringing with me-”

“That is not of my concern, Chancellor.”

“With all due respect, Commander,” he says through grit teeth, “if you need our technology, that it is of your concern.”

Clarke watches Lexa's knuckles turn white as she grips the table in front of her. “You will not land any closer to a populated area, if that is what you are implying. You do not make the rules in this, and it is not a negotiation. You will land in the area Raven has sent through to you and that is final. I can send riders and wagons to help transport your people and equipment after you land but I will not put any of mine in danger. If you do decide to land closer and any harm comes to my people, I will not stop the war that will be demanded. This situation will be much easier if we can work together, but if you are refusing that, I already have those among your people that are amazing at what they do and will work with me because they understand this is the best way forward.” 

Raven nods her head off to the side in unspoken agreement, mumbling to herself about making the Mountain go boom and it surprisingly makes Lexa relax a little. “These are still my people, Commander, do you really think they would side against their own for you?”

“They'll side with Wells. He's taken the responsibility of leader for the delinquents.”

There's a long moment where nothing is said after Clarke's statement, as if options were being weighed, and a new voice fills the room making Clarke sick to her stomach. The voice of Marcus Kane, another involved in her dad's death just by being on the Council. A cold man, one who holds no remorse for his actions. “We will try our best to land in that area, Commander, and we can look over the treaty that you and-”

“No.”

“No? Wells is not in charge of our people's fate, he doesn't have the jurisdiction to negotiate terms between your people and ours. As a member of the Council, I speak for us all when I say that we will not agree-”

“New generations bring new ideas, Councilman. Wells Jaha is wise beyond his years. I gave your children the option of joining one of my clans, staying here, or leave. Those with family they care for chose to come here, those with nothing are either integrating themselves into my society or decided to try and survive on their own. They had these options when they landed for many reasons. One; they were scared. Two; they did not know of our existence or the dangers they were getting themselves into. Three; they know it's better to work with us than against us. Four; they wish to rebuild their lives and make themselves useful. You will not receive such options when you land because you now know the circumstances. Wells and I have worked many hours on our treaty, I will not allow that to be threatened because you automatically assume you will still be in charge. If you wish to ignore our alliance, you will do so outside of my boarders, but I can guarantee you will not live long left to your own devices. You may work along side Wells, but you will not push him out of his role.” Lexa's words seem to leave them lost for words, like trying to argue against them is futile.

There's a deep breath over the radio, Jaha's tone as stubborn as usual, “what if we decide to separate? We will stay on the Ark when it comes down, and Wells can run his little... playgroup,” Clarke glowers, “until they realise that listening to us is what's best for them.”

Raven scoffs from the other side of the room, her mumbles of 'like that's going to happen' more clear than her previous self-talk rant. “Very well. You will still be within my boarders, however; and there is a part of the treaty you will have to cooperate with right away.” She waits a beat. “All of your weaponry will be taken away and dismantled by Raven.”

“No deal. We need those for protection.”

“Once again, this is not a negotiation. I gifted you Bellamy Blake as a sign of good will, the least you can do is offer me the same decency.” Anya makes her way through the door. “Seriously think about this, I expect an answer before you land. Now excuse me, I have other matters to take care of.” She presses the same button Raven did to end the transmission, tilting her head to Anya and makes her way back down the ladder.

Clarke isn't far behind her, “they'll die in the desert. There's no food or water and the Ark will only have so many rations.”

Lexa shrugs, “then that is their choice. We will wait until they die out, and then I will send a team to recover anything Raven may need. I will not try and help those who do not want it. Those that do, will follow the laws of my land and live within the land I have given you.”

“My mom-”

“Will want to be with you, regardless of how you currently feel about her.” She turns, her hand coming up to rest on Clarke's chin, “she is a smart woman, Clarke, she did raise you after all.” 

Clarke's eyes soften, and Lexa takes that as her cue to turn around and continue her way to her tent, “where are you going?”

“I'm going to go and kill us something to eat.” 

“Alone?” A nod. She frowns, worry lines creasing her forehead, her pace still just a step behind Lexa, “well do you want some company?” 

Lexa doesn't turn to look back at her as she answers, “maybe next time. You should stay with Wells, I will not be long.” 

Clarke squints her eyes, wondering why she's getting the brush off for this, but stays in place as she watches Lexa walk away. A cough from behind startles her, “since when does Clarke Griffin do what she's told?”

“Wells!” Her grin is wide as she dashes over to the bed. 

Before she even opens her mouth to ask constant questions on how he's feeling and what he remembers and how many fingers is she holding up he stops her, “she's going out into the woods on her own Clarke, don't pretend you'd rather be here. I promise I won't move until you're back and then you can poke and prod me all you want. I want details, Clarke,” he jokes.

She doesn't waste any time running after Lexa, ignoring the strange looks she's getting along the way. Lexa spins to face her as she reaches the tent just before the flap falls shut, sneaking in the small gap it leaves. “Clarke, what-”

Her question is cut short and she's knocked back into one of the large support poles as Clarke's mouth covers her own. She forces down a whimper at the first movement of the soft, thin, slightly chapped lips that bring her own plump, bottom one between them, slowly but surely parting them more and more until she feels the barest hint of Clarke's tongue running along, asking for a permission she is far too keen to grant. 

A hand makes it's way to the back of Lexa's neck, tightening in a grasp that secures she can't move back and Clarke pushes into her impossibly further. Lexa's hands move to Clarke's hips, gripping tight enough to encourage the push/pull between them until she decides to spin them, shoving Clarke against the same pole hard enough for the tent to wobble and Clarke's deep moan fills her ears.

Clarke has to pull back from the soothing, addicting taste of fresh berries and mint leaves just to catch her breath and rests her forehead against Lexa's. “Lexa,” she pants, “fuck.” She feels Lexa nod against her, and can't resist tightening her grip further into Lexa's neck, knowing her nails are biting into skin causing Lexa's eyes to snap open to meet her own, pupils blown. “Fuck,” she repeats in a groan dragging Lexa back into her but stops short, “wait, wait.”

Lexa steps back quickly, “I'm sorry, I-”

Laughing, Clarke tugs at the lapels of Lexa's cloak and moulds their bodies back together, “I said wait, not move away.” Her hands glide down Lexa's arms until she's holding her wrists, pulling them back around her before she places her hands on Lexa's shoulders, “I didn't come in here to do that.”

“I am not complaining.”

“I came in here,” Clarke grins, “to tell you to be careful out there.”

Lexa smirks, “I am Heda, Klark.”

Clarke moves in to give her a chaste kiss, “yes,” another, “yes you are.” The kiss resumes, quickly building to the point where they'd left it and Clarke can't resist sucking Lexa's bottom lip between her teeth, nibbling on it gently. She revels in the soft exhale that earns her and can't help her giggle, pushing Lexa back playfully, “God. I need to go. You need to go. It's going to start getting dark soon and-”

“The animals will be heading to a safe place for the night.”

“I was going to say I'm going to be worried about you enough as it is when it's still light out. But I guess yours works too.” 

She pulls away from Lexa, opening the flap to the tent but stops to look over her shoulder, eyes travelling up and down, biting her own lip at the corner. “This was bad timing, it was a bad idea,” Lexa speaks up, though there is no seriousness as she takes a step forward.

Clarke lets the flap fall shut again, her tone lowering to a whispered husk, “such a bad idea.” 

“Clarke,” her eyes flick to Clarke's lips, but she smirks, reaching behind Clarke to open the tent again, “didn't you say you needed to go?”

“Wells can wait a little longer.”

Lexa's eyes shoot open then, “he is awake?”

“Did I forget to mention that?” 

Laughing, Lexa motions for Clarke to leave, grinning to herself as she watches and waits until she knows she's alone to strip off, crunching and stretching getting ready to shift, her panther doing somersaults in excited anticipation for the hunt.

-

“I have a question,” Raven starts after Lexa and Clarke leave, not lifting her head to address Anya, “what did Lexa do with all the guns you took from here? You know the ones she had me take apart in TonDC?” 

“They are safe, why?”

Raven glances up, “I'm going to need them back.”

Anya tilts her head, “explain.”

“I have an idea,” she shrugs, stands and cracks her neck. A flash of blonde catches her eye out of the window and she grins at her destination. “Well, well, well.” Anya comes up to stand behind her, grunting when she sees what Raven sees, “a bottle of Monty's moonshine Clarke finally kisses her.”

“Hey! Stop betting my stash.”

Raven waves him off without look at him and Anya scoffs next to her, “I am not idiotic enough to take that bet, Skaigada.”

They wait impatiently for moment after moment and Raven slumps, “huh, maybe they didn't-” the tent wobbles, “yeah, get it Griff.” 

Anya scrunches her noses, “I can not witness this.” She still doesn't move away.

“Because she's your Commander?”

“Because she is Leksa.” 

Raven hums appreciatively, “I bet it's that Commander voice she uses. I mean, Lexa's hot, but when she's Heda, damn.” Anya bristles behind her and she smirks, “Clarke's really hot too. I bet together they'd-” 

“Please stop.” They watch Clarke leave, the white of her teeth shown by her grin glaring against the last bit of sun. Anya blames herself for her futile attempt at pulling her away from the window without causing suspicion, knowing what she will see shortly, but she's too late and Raven sees the giant cat make her way through the back of the tent, looking around before bolting into the forest.

Her throat tightens, and suddenly what she thought was just a hallucination when she first landed becomes clear in her mind. “Monty, can you give us a minute, ol' buddy, ol' pal?” He shrugs, claiming that he's hungry anyway. 

“Reivon.” Raven turns on her, pushing her shoulders and grunting in frustration when Anya doesn't move, pushing over and over again but Anya just raises her brow with a smirk, “I do not understand what you are trying to accomplish.” 

Raven scowls, “I'm trying to push you into that fucking chair behind you so I can pace and vent and you won't move because you're all damn chiselled Gods and Goddesses, so when I push you again can you just for a second pretend that you can't easily bench press me and sit down?” 

Anya clears her throat to stop herself from laughing, “very well.”

She does as Raven asks and plays along with her rant, sitting down and crossing her legs and Raven huffs, “that wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be. Back to my point,” she starts her pacing, “when I first landed, I didn't pass out straight away. Well, I didn't think I did, but then I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, and a giant fucking bear came up to attack me. And then, then all of a sudden Lexa is in front of it, talking to it like a damn child and the, the bear right? Actually listens to her. And I thought, Jesus, Reyes, you must've hit your head harder than you thought, and then I passed out. But the bear is actually a kid, isn't it?”

Anya goes to speak, but Raven holds her hand up.

“Don't, I get it, it's obvious evolution has changed her genetic code to be able to transform into animals. I mean, there had to be more to the black blood right?” Anya frowns. “What? Like I didn't notice that cut? I might have been dizzy but I'm not stupid. Holy shit! Holy shit, does Clarke know?” Anya shakes her head. “She's going to be pissed.”

“Sha.” 

Raven takes a deep breath, pulling one of the other chairs so she is face-to-face with Anya, “okay, now that that's out of my system, tell me everything.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bs'ed my way through the majority of the sciencey stuff so.... yeah.

“Tell me everything.”

Anya takes in a long, large breath, eyes lifting to the sky in a prayer for Lexa to forgive her for this. “Long ago, after the old world war, a woman named Becca rose from the ashes. She was the first Commander sent by the Spirit. Her blood was black, like no person had ever seen before and she had abilities far beyond what we have ever known, speed, strength, sight, everything we take for granted. She was a saving grace in a time of need, a time where the world was a dark, dismal place.”

“Sounds happy.” Anya glares at her and she holds up her hands, “continue.”

“She brought together a new world, one where the survivors of war could flourish together and she sent scouts out as far as they could travel, looking for other life, and she was successful. Many hid away in shelters, they were weak, dying from lack of food or clean water. She wanted to share her gifts with the world, but the only way she could do that was by giving them her blood. The people rioted against her, greedy in their need to survive, but by doing that, they made her realised that she also had the ability to heal faster, so she made a choice. She allowed the Spirit to choose two people from each of the surviving areas to receive her gift-”

Raven snorts, crossing her arms over her chest, “I'll come back to everything that is wrong with this in a minute, but first; how, pray tell, does an invisible, mystical being choose that?”

“They were put through tests, the two strongest, the winners, got her blood. They would go back and use their abilities to further their people and would then go on to become the twelve clans that are now in our coalition.”

Rolling her eyes at the short explanation, Raven realises she has to goad Anya into answers. “So what about the animal thing?”

Anya's eyes glaze over, recalling the story she'd learnt growing up, “Becca had a son. There was one clan, the Ice Nation, who were very power hungry. Are still power hungry. A man and a woman won their tests, won Becca's blood, but it was not enough for him. He wanted more, more speed, more strength, more everything, so he set out to kill the rest of the Nitblidas' leaving only him. He started with the Ice Nation woman, of course, but when he heard of Becca's child, he could only see somebody growing up to take his title away, so he went after him first. The problem was, her son was not chosen by the Spirit, his blood was not black, but the Ice Nation still feared he would grow with them, and that his red blood would make him easy to hide-”

“So he wanted the kid out of the way.”

“Sha. He was blinded in his rage, too dangerous for even Becca to beat, so the Spirit gave her another gift. In protected of her child, her body shifted to that of a cheetah. Fierce, loyal, strong, fast. It gave her what she needed to kill him, to save her young. The Spirit would gift the Nightbloods' with their animal only when they had earned it, so they worked together, following Becca and claiming her as their leader and protector. Some say that the tears of her cheetah represent giving up the life of a family in order to protect her people.”

Raven nods a little, processing what Anya's just told her and then bounces her leg in excitement with a smile, “that's a really cute bedtime story, want to hear mine?”

Anya waves her hand in bored flick, “if you must, I will humour you with your... science.”

“Great, so let's start off with the fact that even if the circumstances in your history were true, you'd need more than just blood, you'd need bone marrow, and I highly doubt they had the equipment to do that after the war, so we'll forget that. Now, what we have in this case is a genetic mutation,” she babbles, not caring about the look of utter confusion that clouds Anya's expression. “It's evolution. For instance, our ancestors in history didn't look like we do now, we've grown, turned into what we need to be to survive this current world. It's a long winded process that I'll tell you about one day.”

There's a loud grunt, “please try to refrain yourself from that.”

Raven shakes her head, “what I'm saying, is that the radiation from the nuclear bombs caused a certain gene from a certain chromosome to,” her hands move wildly as she clicks her fingers in rapid succession, “activate, so to speak. Oh! Oh, it's like, blue eyes is a mutation, or having red hair, but so, so, so much cooler. Although Clarke's eyes are stunning, just putting that out there.” 

Anya hums, “so you believe that the other Nitblidas' did not get their abilities from Becca? They got them because of the war?”

“Exactly.” Raven points her fingers in a gun shape with a pop of her mouth, but Anya doesn't smile.

“That is ridiculous.” 

“Excuse me?”

“If it was not given by the Spirit, then why did her son not inherit the night blood?”

Raven scoffs, “did the father have black blood too?” Anya glowers. “That's what I thought. Her son would've still been a carrier. Like for example, going back to the hair and eye colour, you could have two brunette's with brown eyes, but if both, or just one of them, carry the blue eye gene or the ginger gene, their kid could turn out to be a blue eyed, red-head. Genetics are so much fun. I bet he grew up and had a child with black blood, right?” Anya's gaze diverts, “I'm right aren't I?” Raven leans back in her chair, folding her arms over her chest with a smug smirk, “yeah, I'm right. Boom.”

“Your science is still ridiculous. The Spirit will punish you for your lack of faith.”

“Your Spirit can kiss my ass.” She shakes her head at herself, “we went off track. Why did Lexa have to form a coalition if Becca had everyone on the same page?”

The shift back to the story brings a rueful smile to Anya's face. “Becca fell ill and thought it unfair to choose a successor. The Commander has to be a Nitblida, they were sent to protect. She thought the best way to do this was to initiate a conclave for vote and to bring all Nightblood children to the Capitol to train for the next generation. Their animal is chosen when they come of age, when their bones are grown enough to adapt to the shift. Over the years, the need for a clan to be in control changed the conclave from a vote, to a series of vigorous challenges, to the one that does not die in battle.”

“Is that what Lexa had to do?”

Anya swallows hard, the memory of her old second on the brink of death trying to stand tall as she was declared the winner, “yes.”

In the one word answer, Raven senses that she'd have to ask Lexa if she wants any more details on that particular subject. “That seems stupid, what happens if the current Commander dies and there's no-one left?” 

“Our flemkipa, flame keeper, only they and Heda know the secrets of the Spirit, will rule until the first Nightblood child presents their animal. The youngest has been eleven.”

“And what idiot gets to decide how the conclave is won?”

“The Commander,” Anya smirks, “but Lexa will not allow her novitiates to go through the same torture she did, things will be different at the next conclave. I just hope I am not around to witness it.”

The statement is obvious in its meaning that Anya doesn't want to outlive Lexa and Raven won't admit that their bond breaks her heart a little in the best way possible. “As much as I'm regretting questioning you about this pretty fucked up back story, why is Lexa rebuilding the coalition?”

“There are many reasons- trade, peace, but the main one is that Lexa wishes to honour Becca's memory. Ever since she was little all she has spoken of is how one day she is going to unite the clans, complete the quest Beka kom Trikru set out to achieve.”

“Aw that is disgustingly adorable and-” a light bulb goes off in her head, “Lexa's related to her.” 

Anya's smile is answer enough for her, “she is the only Nitblida descendent of Becca's to win her conclave. She has also been under command longer than any other.” There's pride oozing out of every pore, and Raven pretends it doesn't make her melt.

“And there's been how many Commanders?” 

“Twenty three.” Raven lets out a low whistle. “Some have lasted only months, some years. Few died of natural causes, some in battle, most were too arrogant and narcissistic to see what was right in front of them and were assassinated. The last Commander was not a good man. He was of the Rock Line and even his own people held hate for him. His animal was a gorilla and claimed he could defeat the giant, wild one in the woods. That was a statement that was never proved, however. His own people pretended to cheer him on but it was a ruse to get him alone. They shot him down and claimed it was accidental, that they thought they were helping him defeat Pauna. That was six years ago, it was a joyful day.” She chuckles to herself, she was one of the first to celebrate his death and secretly thank those that caused it. She likes to think it was because she was younger then, but she knows she'd do the same today.

Raven looks taken back with what she would class as a manic laugh. Well, coming from Anya. “That answers my question about why nobody knows what Lexa or the others' are, they can use their animals as camouflage against those that might want to hurt them, but it doesn't explain why she won't tell Clarke?”

Frowning with a mournful look in her eyes, Anya lets Raven's question down gently, “that is not my story to tell.” 

The look Raven sees must be enough to convince her not to push and a grin soon graces her lips, “Aden's one of them isn't he?”

Anya sighs in exasperation and stands, “I will be outside if you need me.”

“Just nod once for yes and twice for no.”

“Goodbye, Reivon.”

She suddenly remembers the bird Lexa always uses to pass messages between the clans and lights up, “he's the eagle! Right? Right?!” There's no answer and she spins to get back to her work, “you are a genius, Reyes, a pure fucking genius.” She glances around the empty room, “and you're talking to yourself. Moving on.”

-

“It's nice to see you smile again,” Wells compliments when he sees Clarke make her way over to him.

She takes a seat by his side, lifting the bandage on his neck to clean to wound and replace it. “How are you feeling?” 

He sighs, “just a bit light headed, a little weak, but not as bad as I'm assuming I look. Where is she?”

Clarke doesn't need to ask who he's referring to, “Lexa sent her to a remote clan. A peaceful one-”

“The Boat Clan?”

“Yeah. You know, it's your decision what happens to her right? If you want Lexa will have her sent back and-”

Wells shakes his head, holding it after when his vision clouds to grey for a second, “no. From what Lexa's told me about Luna, she's the only one that will be able to teach her about self-hate. She said Luna had done something that sent her on a path of destruction, hurting loads in her wake, but now her people live without war or harm and though they're a part of the coalition, they don't often get involved with its politics.”

Clarke finishes the patch, tapping it lightly to show she's done, “Wells,” she sighs, “you've chosen to lead us, one day you may have to make that choice.”

“I'll deal with it when the time comes. How'd it go with my dad?” She relays the information to him, watches his eyes grow sombre at Jaha's lack of faith in him before they glint with determination, “then I guess we'll just have to prove him wrong.” He looks over over, a smirk hinting at his lips, “told you we'd be friends again.”

A scoff fills the room as she stands to retrieve her bag, pulling out the art supplies Lexa had given her, “I'm not going to apologise.”

“I wouldn't expect you to.” He waits until she sits back down. “I'm not going to apologise either.”

“Good.”

“Good.” It takes less than a minute for them to start laughing and Clarke brings the charcoal to the parchment, glancing over at Wells every so often as she draws him in silence. It's not until she's nearly done with her rough sketch that he asks, “from Lexa?”

She nods, smile now permanent on her face, “yeah. She told me you told her I like to draw, so thank you.” He wants to argue, he's going to tell her that he told Lexa no such thing, but Anya makes her way down the ladder, Raven shouting after her. “What's she yelling about?”

Anya shrugs, leaving the Dropship, “it is Raven.” 

Clarke puts the drawing down, standing up to stretch, “I'm going for a walk, I'll get Monty to bring some food and stuff back with him for you. Don't move.”

“Like I have a choice,” he shouts after her.

-

Lexa digs her front paws into the ground, relaxing her muscles through them, to her head, to her neck, along her back, down her tail and to her hind legs, finishing at her back paws. She sniffs the air, gages the direction of the wind to hide her scent to her prey, and jumps up to a near by branch.

Her panther is impatient, excited at the prospect of a hunt she has put off far too long and she chides her inner cub, calming her to the silent killer she is. 

She takes her time, prowling through the trees, the soft wisps of wind gliding through her fur. She spots a deer, too easy, a few hares, not worth her time, wolves, tough meat, and then she sees her catch. Two wildebeests, rare in this area, a challenge through their speed alone.

Jumping down in a soft thud on the ground, she plans her attack, searches the floor for any obstructions that could give her away. Happy that her path is clear, she prepares to pounce, the first goes down easy, but the attack scares the other into a run and she jumps back into the trees, following it's scent as fast as she can until it eventually comes to a stop, thinking it is clear of the predator and she waits a moment, catching her breath, before launching onto it's back, taking it down with a much harder fight than the first.

There's a light struggle as she drags the animal back to the other, leaving them in an easy access area where she won't be seen, somewhere close to her tent so she can shift and carry them to back to camp where she'll give them to Indra and Gustus to skin and cook, bite and claw marks not questioned. 

As she piles one on top of the other, she figures she will grab a couple of hares also, just in case the Sky People are intimidated by the wild beasts she delivers, but as she goes to make her hunt, a wave of blonde catches her eyes and she inwardly groans, rolling them.

Why couldn't Clarke just keep herself out of trouble?

Lexa watches as Clarke sits up against a tree behind her tent, looking up to the sky as she plays with the watch on her hand and Lexa pads closer. “I think you'd really like her, dad. She's a bit like you, doing what's right for her people even if there's consequences for her.” Lexa makes her presences known, nuzzling against the hand with the watch, “hey kitten,” Clarke laughs at Lexa's growl, “following me again?”

Clarke rubs the top of her head before kissing it, and if she were able to, she'd blush, because the feeling of those lips on hers not a mere hour ago made her feel things she hasn't felt since- she shakes her head to clear her mind of the thought as Clarke looks back to the sky. 

“I know what mom did, and, and I'm sorry I couldn't be stronger for you. I'm sorry there was nothing I could do to stop, to stop,” Clarke's words trail to a chocked sob, and Lexa realises that Clarke needs this time alone, even if her panther is begging her not to leave Clarke with no form of protection.

As quickly as she can, she forgoes catching the hares and dashes to her tent unseen to Clarke, panther not fully sated, but calmed enough to let Lexa feed those around her.

Indra's eyebrow raises impressed when Lexa throws not one, but two wildebeests in front of her and Lexa almost scoffs, because please, but she calls over Octavia to teach her what to do with one and passes the other over to Gustus, him making quick work of it and calling over the cooks to rub it down with herbs and spices. 

She doesn't wait around to see it, running back out to Clarke. It's quiet as she leans against the tree, just basking in the last of the sun, eyes closed but grip still firm on her wrist. “What are you doing?” 

Clarke jumps, hand over her chest, “Lexa! What the hell, you could've given me a heart attack.”

Lexa smiles, holding her hand out for Clarke to take and pulls her up, “the cooks are currently preparing a meal for us, it is something special, something we do not often see in our area. We should go back, I would like for us all to gather together after this long day of work, you should be proud of what your people have accomplished in such a short period of time. I believe the Dropship will soon be called home for them.”

“How long do we have until it's ready?” The question isn't completely out of Clarke's mouth before she's leaning her weight against Lexa, forcing her to rest against the tree.

“Indra and Gustus are currently skinning the meat,” Clarke scrunches her nose, “and then the cooks will flavour it in preparation before cooking it which will take-”

“So long enough?” 

Lexa lets out a breath when Clarke's nose rubs against her own, “yes, long enough.” 

Clarke inhales sharp through her nose and Lexa races through her memory to see if she remembered to wash her mouth out with the mint infused water to rid it of the blood in her haste to get back out here. Thankfully she remembers that yes, yes she did, just in time for Clarke to say, “I really want to kiss you again.” 

A gulp finds its way down Lexa's throat as their lips move against each other just to speak, “Clarke.”

“I know, it's crazy, a week ago I didn't even know you existed. Three days ago I couldn't even, I couldn't,” she shakes her head and closes her eyes, her hands gripping Lexa's cloak so tight it leaves wrinkles, “but, fuck, Lex,” the nickname slips again and her eyes open, bright and wide, piercing Lexa's own, “there's something about you I can't resist.”

The quiet moan escapes Clarke's throat before she has time to stop it, Lexa's grip on her hips, just under her shirt, gentle but firm as she pulls them flush against her own, legs sliding together to fit in a perfect puzzle and Clarke's hands slip up to Lexa's neck, tugging on it to close that last millimetre gap.

Lexa shudders as Clarke's lips graze her own, the slow, soft movements contradicting the tight, almost needy hold they have on each other and hushed sighs breathed out on cheeks turn to panting whimpers when Clarke opens her mouth enough for her teeth to catch against Lexa's bottom lip before a grunt can be heard echoing through the air as Lexa's tongue flicks just enough to run along the roof of Clarke's mouth.

It's soft, slow and sweet, but when Clarke moves to suck Lexa's bottom lip between her own and bites down just hard enough to feel pressure, Lexa's answering groan turns the languid kiss into a rushed desperation. Eyes clench shut, fingers grip hard enough to leave nail imprints and moans bounce in the bubble they've created around themselves. 

Neither notice the subtle grind that starts between their hips until Lexa's move just a fraction deeper than they were and Clarke has to pull back in a gasp. Lexa takes the opportunity to start running kisses down Clarke's jaw to her neck, nipping so lightly at the crease that meets her shoulder that Clarke can't decide whether to bring Lexa's lips back to hers or pull her in closer for a harder bite.

Lexa's fingers dig in a little more when Clarke chooses the latter, moving them slowly up Clarke's sides tickling her in a way that makes her shiver and she gets a sudden, unexpected image of Lexa's fingers stroking her in a different way and-

“Oh, god,” she pulls back, breath heaving in and out and opens her eyes slowly, Lexa already moved away from her and leaning ramrod against the tree. “We can't do this,” she pants and watches Lexa's expression fall, causing her to smile slightly, “here. We can't do this here.” She takes Lexa's hands in her own, pulling her softly to follow her, keeping her eyes on forest green as she walks backwards to the short distance of the tent, biting her lip at Lexa's soft 'oh'. 

The air shifts as soon as they enter the tent, once more calm and slow as Clarke runs her thumb over the buckle that holds Lexa's shoulder strap. She undoes it, gently placing it on the chair next to them and works on the cloak next, shrugging it off, keeping her eyes connected to Lexa the whole time and she notes that there's a flick of yellow hidden around the green that she hasn't noticed before.

After laying the cloak over the shoulder strap, she moves Lexa's hands to her own jacket, giving her the permission she hasn't asked for aloud, but is blatant in her eyes, and helps Lexa take it off, carelessly throwing it to the side.

They stare in silence, weighing the atmosphere between them until Clarke eventually caves, stepping closer to pick up where they left off, but Lexa's hands grab her wrists, halting her movements and confusion clouds Clarke's face. Lexa hesitates at first, stuttering over non-existent words, but finally finds her voice, “Clarke, there is something I need to tell you.” 

Clarke frowns, the worried expression Lexa wears making her nervous and she steps closer, pulling one hand from Lexa's grasp to hold against her cheek, relaxing slightly when Lexa presses into it, “hey, what's wrong?”

“I- I-”

A loud crash, something knocked over, startles them, “Clarke, fuck, Clarke you need to come quick.”

They look at one another until the last possible second before Clarke turns with a mumble, “fucking Raven.” She rips the separation curtain open with a growl at Raven, “what?”

Having the decency to look a little guilty, Raven quickly recovers, “you need to come to the medical room. Now.”

She pulls Clarke along and Clarke's mind automatically goes to Wells, assuming it's him, but she's shocked when she looks at the bed next to Wells. Laying there is a bruised and bloody John Murphy, gasping for air and grunting in pain, “Murphy, why are you here? What the hell happened to you?”

He attempts to open his one good eye, the other completely shut by swelling, “we got attacked by the Mountain Men. Clarke, they took everyone else, I'm the only one that managed to escape.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited chapter. Sorry about that. This fic is going to go in a bit of an angsty-er direction that I didn't initially plan on taking it in... but here we are.
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes, I'm doing this from my phone, I'll try to get around to editing it later.

“How did you escape?” Lexa’s words are threatening, harsh, and Clarke has to take a step back as she frowns over to her but Lexa doesn’t back down, “the Mountain Men are not known for leaving anyone behind, Clarke. They are also not known for attacking a person in such a manner. They do one of two things, they either leave a person unconscious with the red gas and take them back to their base or they kill. There is no in between.” She looks over to Murphy, “you are lying.” 

Wells and Clarke share a look, unsure of how to step in, unsure of who to side with. Murphy may not be the most trustworthy of the delinquents, but he is still one of them. He speaks up before they get a chance to, “they did use the red gas, but somebody pulled me away from it. I don’t know her name, but she had tattoos on her face like your people. When the gas cleared, the men were attacked from the trees. I got caught up in the fight.”

Anya and Lexa share the same look Clarke and Wells did and a silent conversation transpires between them. “I want the full truth, Anya, by any means necessary.” Anya nods as a confirmation of Lexa’s order before she drags Murphy up and pulls him along behind her forcefully.

“Lexa what the hell do you think you’re doing?” 

“What I must.” Lexa storms out of the room, face livid and strut determined. 

Clarke stalks behind her all the way back to the tent and pulls Lexa around to face her as soon as the flap is shut, “you didn’t even let me look him over to make sure he was okay.”

“We don’t have time for that.” Clarke opens her mouth to respond but Lexa cuts her off with a hand help up, causing Clarke’s jaw to lock in offense. “If, if there is a chance that he is telling the truth, that means Mount Weather have your people. If they have your people, they have your blood. If Raven is right, that means soon they will be walking free. Do you really want to take the chance that he is being truthful? Because if he isn’t, there is something else happening, possibly something bigger or possibly he fell down a ditch and made up this story to save him from embarrassment. If he is, we need to make a plan. Now.” 

“That’s a lot of ifs, Lexa.” Clarke shakes her head and scoffs, “so what, you’re going to beat the truth out of him? Don’t you think he’s suffered enough?” 

Lexa turns on her, pouring herself a mug of water as her voice lowers, “Anya will do what needs to be done.” She sighs, “Clarke my people have orders not to harm yours. But that does not mean they will protect you if you are being attacked by others. Why would my people risk their lives against the Mountain to save a few people from the sky?”

“You would.”

Turning, Lexa looks Clarke straight in the eye, “I would protect you.” 

Clarke closes her eyes against the intense stare, gritting her teeth, “Murphy is one of us. This should’ve been Wells’ call.”

“If he did not place my people there, it would have been.”

The anger rises, “you can’t just pick and choose when you think my people should be punished, Lexa!” 

“Yes. I can.” 

Clarke steps up the her, “I don’t get you. One minute you want to work with us, the next you want to punish us, then you want us to be on good terms again but then you go and pull this shit. You need to make up your fucking mind, Lexa. When you do, let me know.” Clarke moves back, shaking her head at Lexa, “I’m going to check on Wells, you know where I am when you’ve reached a decision.” 

Lexa sighs after Clarke leaves the tent. One step forward, two steps back.

-

They separate for the next two nights, not a word spoken between them. They relay messages through Anya, Raven and Wells.

“We need to find a way to infiltrate Mount Weather. John Murphy of the Sky People has not changed a single words of his story. It is almost rehearsed in the way he speaks.” 

Lexa, Indra, Anya, Gustus and Wells stand around the war table, analysing what they know of the layout of the building. “I agree, Heda,” Indra says, “it is almost as if he is trying to get us there sooner rather than later.” 

“We have been trying to get in there for years. There is nothing we can do until we find a way to disable the acid fog. Even if we could get the doors open, the only ones of us that could get close enough are the Nitblidas’ and we are too over powered, even with our extra abilities. I will not put their lives on the line in a battle we can not win. I believe John Murphy may be twisting the truth, I think, if his story is real, that he has made a deal of sorts.”

Wells frowns, “what kind of deal? He was free, what could they have possibly offered him?” 

Lexa shrugs, “if it were I that attacked a group, I would leave one of them to send a message. If they do have your people, they know I will do everything in my power to stop them from being able to breath our air but they are foolish if they think I would make such a callous decision as storming them. You need to try harder to convince your father that siding with us will produce the best outcome for your people, Wells Jaha.” 

“Speaking of,” a voice interrupts them, causing all heads to turn. Lexa tries hard not to look too longingly at Clarke. “The Chancellor is on the line now. He said they are preparing to land as we speak, they should touch down before nightfall.” 

“Very well,” Lexa begins, forcing her gaze away, “you and Wells assemble a team to greet them, I am sure they will be more comfortable seeing known faces. Indra, Gustus, you do the same. Take our best trackers, we need this to be done as quickly and smoothly as possible.” 

They part ways but Clarke lingers for a moment longer, half glare and half sombre look towards Lexa before she follows after Wells. “This behaviour between the two of you needs to stop. It is counter productive to our plan if she will not speak with you.”

“I know, Anya.” 

“She needs to accept that we need all of the information that boy has, a name, anything, and simply asking him politely will not work.”

“I know, Anya.”

“You also need to accept that she has a right to be mad. She does not see the world the way we do, has not lived through what we have had to live through. She does not understand that sometimes we have to make decisions without taking our feelings into consideration. You need to make her understand that the world is not black and white.”

Lexa sighs, deflated, “I know, Anya.” 

Anya places a reassuring hand on Lexa’s shoulder, “we need to survive, Lexa. If sacrificing the one can help us save the thousands, then that is what we will do.”

Shaking her head, Lexa pulls away, “it will not come to having him killed. We do not even know if he has done anything wrong, we do not know what he has been offered. If I was given the chance to free all of my people in return for the Skaikru, I would do it without a second thought.”

The air hangs heavy between them and a part of Lexa wishes she could take her decision back, wishes she would have asked Clarke how she would have handled the situation, but the bigger part of her believes that this was the right course of action, that if her people find out about this and Lexa did nothing to gather information, they would doubt her leadership, as they will if they ever find out about Lincoln.

It is their way.

“I need to go for a run, clear my mind. I feel my heart clouding it’s judgement.” 

“The heart is not always wrong, Leksa.” 

Lexa tries to smile, tries to joke, but all she can manage is a slight upturn of her lips, “you have been spending too much time with Reivon.” 

Anya scoffs at her and Lexa undresses, handing her clothes over to Anya and breathes deeply, “I will be back before the Ark’s decent.” 

-

Lexa will never get used to how freeing it is, running through the forest, paws digging into the soft ground. She’s been running for at least an hour now, far enough that she can scout the boarders of both TonDC and the Dropship but close enough that she can rush back at any given warning. 

She runs through the seemingly meaningless event that lead her to this moment, for once in her life doubting herself. Questions mull over in her thoughts again and again. Should she have listened to Clarke? Was sending Anya to get answers the right thing to do? Will this put a dent in their alliance?

Wells seemed to accept it.

The questions don’t stop. Is he lying or did Lexa see something that wasn’t there? Did her natural instinct of not trusting people cause her to question him straight away? Would she have made the same choice if it were one of her people that came back? Should she have let Wells choose what happened? Will the coalition turn on her for the way she has handled things so far? 

What would Costa have said? 

She has always been taught that her first instinct is the right one, that as Commander there is no such thing as second guessing. You make a choice and if any consequences follow, you make another choice to solve them.

Choice, choice, choice.

The word haunts her. It means so much more than the simple six letters it takes to spell. 

Every choice she makes affects those around her, yet she didn’t have a choice to be who is she today.

Be born a Nightblood. Get taken away from your family to train. Train more. Forget your feelings. Train more. Do not befriend the other children because eventually you will have to kill them or be killed by them. 

As Commander it is very rare that someone will question your decisions, and on the off chance they do, it will never be in the same way Clarke has been questioning her.

Has she been a bad Commander all this time and her people were just too scared to confront her? Would Luna have been better? 

She knows how much she’s been contradicting herself recently, but she’s not used to this. Her people fall in line and that’s the end of it. 

Her panther rolls her eyes just wanting a nice, stress free run. 

She berates it for being a cub and helping her get into this situation to start with. 

Lexa doesn’t agree with needless killing, doesn’t agree with needless violence. It is in her blood to protect over harm, but it has taken her six years to get her coalition on neutral grounds and her people have lived by ‘blood must have blood’ for far longer than that.

One day at a time. Until then she has to compromise. 

Her run takes her to the radiated section of the woods, she’s already come to think of it as her and Clarke’s place, even if Clarke doesn’t know it’s Lexa that lead her there. 

She’s not shocked to find Clarke sitting against a tree, drawing harshly against the parchment. 

Lexa makes sure she’s loud, not wanting to startle an already angry Clarke and gets an eye roll when Clarke sees her, “your owner can be a real idiot sometimes, you know that?”

Oh, she knows. 

“What the fuck did she think she was doing? That is not how you handle John Murphy. If anything, doing that made him less likely to tell the truth. But will she listen? Will she fuck because ‘what Heda says goes’, right?” 

So it seems.

“And how dare she, how dare she look at me like I’m the one in the wrong? She’s got another thing coming if she thinks I’m apologising for this. Why? Why did she have to do this? I thought we were-” she cuts herself off, digging the charcoal into the parchment until it snaps in half and throws it angrily away from her before ripping her scribble in half and doing the same. A heavy sigh fills the air and Clarke looks at Lexa, “why doesn’t she trust me?” 

And Lexa does. She trusts Clarke as much as she trusts Anya, but she can never seem to do the right thing to show that. Or when she tries to, they’re interrupted. 

Clarke reaches out to pet her and Lexa feels she doesn’t deserve it so she backs away, nearly breaks at the hurt look in Clarke’s eyes but a sound pricks her ears. Voices. Luca and that girl from the sky, Harper, Lexa believes. She frowns, concentrating on listening in and Clarke’s eyes shift to confusion, head tilted. 

They’re scouting the forest, Luca obviously teaching Harper how to hunt and Lexa smiles, glad that her people are still working with Wells’ and Clarke’s people but movement to her side causes her stomach to sink.

Orin.

Why isn’t he running away? 

The stag just stands there, looking in the direction of the voices and doesn’t move an inch and that’s when Lexa realises.

He’s finally given up. 

Not willing to let him, Lexa darts off towards him, ignores Clarke’s cries behind her. She will not allow him to die like this. Not for his sake. Not for Luna’s. 

Her paws are heavy in the dirt, loud roars echoing around her in a hope that Luca and Harper won’t want to be near such a creature. 

They either don’t hear her, highly doubtful, or Luca is out to impress. 

She watches as if in slow motion. Watches as Luca shows Harper how to hold the bow and arrow. Watches him guide her to pull back tight against the string. Watches her take a deep breath to steady her shaking hands. And watches the exhale of that breath as she releases the arrow.

It flies through the wind, and Harper is a quick learner because this shot would kill him. 

Lexa is fortunately faster, or unfortunately in some cases, as she soars through air, using a low tree branch to practically catapult herself in front of the stag.

The arrow pierces her side, just short of hitting her lung but it’s painful enough to force her down. 

She’s whimpering, the pain in her side rendering her unable to get up and Orin moves to stand over her protectively, antlers poised to attack. It’s enough to send Harper and Luca running, him urging her that some battles should be left, regardless of the glory they’d receive from taking down an incredible beast such as a panther. It wasn’t worth risking their lives against an irate stag for.

It isn’t enough to send Clarke away. Lexa’s not surprised, if a giant cat didn’t scare her, a deer certainly wouldn’t. 

Clarke’s eyes beg him through her pants from running to Lexa. “Let me help her. Please.”

Lexa idly smiles that only Clarke would talk to an animal as if it could understand her.

She doesn’t know how right she is.

Orin stands glaring at Clarke until another whimper produces from Lexa’s throat and he glances at her. She nods to him and he moves away but she isn’t expecting him to shift into his human form.

It’s been so long she had almost forgotten what he looked like.

Clarke stumbles back with a gasp, her back hitting a tree as what was just a mere animal a minute ago is now a tall, muscular and very naked man. “I- what- how- I- did that- what the fuck just happened?” 

Orin scoffs at her and bends down to pick Lexa up, “we do not have time for your shock and questions, Sky Girl,” ah, so he has been paying attention to things, “you said you want to help. Follow now and ask questions later.” He starts to jog towards Lexa’s tent, not caring much if Clarke is following him and trying his best not to jolt Lexa around too much. He leans down to hiss in her ear, “that was reckless, Leksa, you could’ve gotten yourself killed.” Lexa gives him a look which he can only interpret as her saying his words are idiotic. He shakes his head at her, “your life is more important than mine, Heda.” 

For Lexa, it seems to take longer than it actually does to get back to her tent. Orin notices the art supplies near her bed and glares at her. She half attempts a shrug. He turns to Clarke and her features are still full of all levels of confusion. He rolls his eyes, “bring me Anya. Now. Quickly.” 

Clarke dashes out and Orin turns back to her, ripping two pieces of fabric from her sheets. One to cover himself and the other to place on her wound. She winces. 

He applies the barest amount of pressure against it, “apologies, Heda.” Snapping it in half, he throws the dead piece to the side, ignoring Lexa’s warning growl.

Anya bursts through a moment later with Raven behind her, “what happened?”

“One of your archers were teaching a Sky Person how to hunt. She dove in front of me.” 

“You reckless-” her scolding trails off into mumbles as she takes her place next to Orin, examining the arrow and the best way to get it out.

“Will somebody please explain to me what the hell is going on?”

Clarke. Lexa closes her eyes, in shame or tiredness she isn’t sure. She wants to shift. Wants to tell Clarke everything and beg for her forgiveness, but as her eyes begin to change Anya snarls at her. “Don’t you dare. You know what affect it will have on your body if you do that. The arrow could move and make you worse.”

A loud cluttering distracts them and Lexa’s eyes snap to Clarke’s. Her back is pressed against a table, one hand gripping the side of it and the other clamped over her mouth. She looks like she’s going to throw up. Lexa knows she’s figured it out. “No,” she shakes her head back and forth in rapid succession, “no. No, no, no. That’s not possible. That’s not-”

Raven’s hand moves to Clarke’s elbow, no sign of surprise on her face. “Clarke.” Lexa knows Raven knows. She wasn’t too happy at Anya’s reveal of them. And now Clarke knows that Raven knows and she rips her arm away.

“You knew.” 

A nod is all Clarke needs and she’s torn between looking at Lexa and looking at Raven. “How could you?”

Lexa isn’t sure if that was directed at her or not. Probably both of them. Orin growls, still holding pressure as Anya works around the arrow and Lexa can do nothing but drop her head heavily onto the pillow with a weak whine. “If she isn’t going to help, get her out of here.” He doesn’t look at Raven after that, focusing all of his attention on Lexa.

Taking Clarke more firmly by the arm, Raven tugs her away, her grip more tight the harder Clarke pulls against it, “don’t fucking touch me.” 

“Clarke you need to calm down.”

“Calm down?” Her screech is incredulous and Raven glances around them to make sure nobody is in the vicinity of hearing. “She’s been lying to me, Raven. You’ve been lying to me. All she’s done these past couple days is talk about how Murphy is lying and she goes and does this? Unbelievable! She is such a fucking hypocrite. And you! You just sat back knowing full well she was this- this- I don’t even understand how this is possible but you just stood there and watched so you have no fucking right to tell me to calm down.” 

Raven takes in a deep breath, combing her fingers through her hair, “look, I’m sorry. It’s not my secret to tell, Clarke. I can explain how it’s possible but first you need to hear her out. There’s a reason she hasn’t told you that even I don’t know. Just... let her explain. “

Clarke glares at her, seething, “not a chance in hell.”

Something catches Raven’s eye and she looks up, eyes widening the more she focuses, “Clarke.”

“I don’t want to hear it, Raven.”

“No, Clarke, seriously you need to get your head out of your ass for a minute and look up.”

Clarke does as she’s told and her expression matches Raven’s. One by one all that are outside join them. “It’s the Ark,” she supplies unnecessarily. They watch as it gets closer, and their expressions quickly shift into one of shock, “why is it splitting?” 

There’s no answer. It doesn’t need one. Every person that is watching can clearly see half of the Ark descending to its designated area, but the other half- “it’s going to Mount Weather,” Raven mumbles. “Clarke, if that’s intentional, Jaha has just declared war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops...


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm still salty as fuck about Sense8 and I'm not happy with this chapter at all and it's a bit all over the place because of that but hopefully you'll like it anyways. It's more of a filler for the next few chapters too. 
> 
> Sidenote: Wayhaught though....

The air is deathly quiet as Grounders’ and Sky People alike watch part of the Ark crash near Mount Weather. Clarke can only imagine that those sent to help the ones who planned to crash in the desert have faulted in their mission and she begs and prays that without Lexa there to keep her people in their place, Octavia and the other Skaikru won’t become victim to a treason they have had no part in.

In the bottom of her heart, she knows Indra will keep Octavia safe, but the rest have yet to prove their loyalty. 

Not that, that accounts for anything right now.

“What is the commotion?” Anya asks, tearing open the tent flap, hands covered in black blood.

Lexa’s blood.

Clarke gulps down her concern.

“Jaha,” she seethes, “it looks like he decided to go to Mount Weather instead.” 

“Clarke-”

“I know, Anya. He’s just declared war on you. On us,” she corrects, “regardless of his plans, my people will still stand by yours. They look up to Wells and he won’t agree with what his dad is doing. You also have me, Raven, Octavia and Monty at least. The rest will fall in line.”

Anya studies her for a second, glancing between her and Raven who tries a supportive smile that’s clouded with fear. “For all of your sakes, Skaigada, I hope you are right.” 

Orin comes out shortly after and Clarke can’t help herself no matter how hard she tries, “is she okay?”

He locks his jaw, judging her, “she will live. You had better update her, but do not let her get up, she can shift, but she needs at least a few hours bed rest before she can be mobile.”

“Why me?”

With a shrug, he turns away from Clarke, “because I do not care if she kills you when you stand in her way.”

Clarke rolls her eyes with a huff but leaves them anyway. Anya turns to him, “can we rely on you to help us or are you going to go back to pretending you aren’t one of us?”

A heavy sighs fills the air as he braces himself, “as much as Lexa will battle against us, she is out of commission until morning. I will stay to help until she has healed. We must make a plan with the leader of Skaikru as to what our next move is and if we have their alliance.”

“One of the leaders’,” Raven growls. 

Orin looks taken back slightly whereas Anya just smirks. “Excuse me?”

“You may not like how Clarke just acted and that’s understandable, but she is a leader along with Wells and I won’t let you call her anything less. You didn’t send her in there in case Lexa lashes out, you sent her in there because you know Clarke can calm her down. Fucking Grounders’ thinking they’re playing it cool.” 

His eyes widen and flit to Anya who looks on impressed. “Very well. We will talk with Wells Jaha and make a plan, then will discuss with Klark and Heda.”

“I will send Aden to Titus, ready our army and give word to the other clans to do the same. If Raven is right and the Maunon can use them to walk free, we will need all of the strength we can get.”

“Even Azgeda?”

“Sha. All of the clans have had people taken, Nia must not have the chance to start a coup. If we do not invite her to fight with us, it is something she could use against Lexa.” Anya looks Orin up and down and scrunches her nose, “find something suitable to change in to. I will inform Aden and join you shortly,” he nods, “come, Raven.” 

The two make quick work in bringing Aden to a secluded area, Grounders’ and Sky People now over their initial shock and arguing amongst themselves. Anya relays the orders to him and tries to calm the nerves she sees flow through him.

Nightblood and warrior or not, he is still a child. “It will be fine, Aden. Once our armies have joined together you will be safe in Polis and training for your conclave if anything should happen to Lexa. You know death is not the end, she will live on in one of you.”

He takes in a deep, shaky breath, refusing the tear that threatens to fall at the mention of Lexa’s eventual death. Anya warns Raven to step back as Aden undresses and cracks his neck, preparing for his shift. Raven’s eyes grow fascinated at each pop of bones and feathers that sprout from his pores. Her jaw hangs low as his eyes dilate, changing colour before they settle to blue and gold and her breath catches when the shift is over and Aden flaps his wings a couple of times to stretch them out. “Holy shit. That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.” Her awed whisper causes Anya to grin and Aden to puff his chest, his eagle preening at the compliment. “Hey, do you think when this is all over I could run some blood tests on them?” Anya and Aden glare at her. “Or not. That’s fine, whatever.” 

Aden squawks at her before his powerful thighs jump and wings spread, flying in the direction towards Polis. 

“So what now? Lexa probably won’t be happy that you’re planning without her.”

“She trusts me to make decision on her behalf. My people are in a state of unrest as it is and she will have to make as if she is not injured, I do not care what Orin says, she will not be able to wait until morning.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m with you guys.”

Anya allows a half smile to grace her lips before she heads towards where Wells is, “Mochof, Reivon.”

-

Lexa has already shifted by the time Clarke enters the room, not wanting to risk somebody else walking in and seeing a panther in her bed. The air is tense as they just look at each other and Lexa winces as she takes in a deep breath, “Clarke-”

“The Ark has dropped,” she starts, monotone, “but we have an issue. Part of it separated and has landed near Mount Weather.” 

The pain sears through Lexa’s side as she bolts up, barely catching the sheet that threatens to drop down to her waist. “What?” The hissed word makes Clarke flinch slightly.

“It looks like Thelonious went against your offered treaty and-” she cuts herself short when Lexa’s legs swing out of the bed and she stalks towards her to stop her. “Don’t you dare. You’re in no fit state to even move right now, never mind fight.” 

“I am Heda, Clarke.” Clarke rolls her eyes because she knows. “I can not simply lay here while my people are in even more danger now than ever before.” 

Clarke scoffs and pushes Lexa back to the bed, “because you’ll be so much better for them when your wound reopens and you bleed out.” 

Lexa growls and Clarke raises her brow in defiance, standing her ground. “Mockery is not the product-”

“Of a strong mind, Clarke,” she drawls, “so you’ve said. Stubbornness isn’t either. You need to heal, Lexa, you’re no good to us if you can’t move.” Her voice softens, “we need you.” Lexa locks her jaw, not relenting, just waiting. “Orin, Anya and Wells are coming up with a plan and you are going to rest for a few hours, there’s nothing we can do right now anyway, they outnumber us and you know it.”

“Anya would have sent Aden to Polis to raise our army. They will be here before dawn but we need to find a way to get inside. We need to disable the acid fog so my army can get close.” The quiet wraps around them and Lexa closes her eyes with a sigh, “I am sorry.”

Clarke sniffs once and looks away before she sits on the end of the bed, “the things I told you, Lexa. I... you should’ve trusted me.”

The gulp that vibrates around the space shouldn’t have been able to be heard, but it’s so heavy that it is and Clarke’s come to realise that Lexa only does it when she’s nervous about what she’s feeling, “I do trust you, Clarke.” Clarke’s eyes snap to hers. “This was about protecting you. I know you say you don’t need protection,” Lexa says as Clarke’s mouth opens to tell her just that, “but in this case you do.”

“Then explain to me why.” Lexa’s voice gets trapped in the back of her throat and Clarke laughs in disbelief, “you’re a fucking coward.” 

“If you did not know and they captured you, they would have just killed you. If they capture you now when you do know, they will torture you.” 

“Who will? And why?”

Lexa gulps again, “the Ice Nation. Because I care for you.” She shakes her head to clear her mind and forces her eyes to look away from Clarke’s now shimmering ones. “Clarke, I will explain everything to you but right now we have to focus on our strategies. This war is inevitable, and it is going to happen sooner rather than later.”

“It that case we need to get you healed as fast as possible.”

Lexa smirks at her, moving the sheet around so that just the wound is uncovered and rips off the small bandage, ignoring Clarke’s warning glare. The hole has already begun to clot and Clarke’s brow furrows in confusion. “I heal quickly, remember.”

“Lexa there’s quick and then there’s lightning speed.” Lexa gasps when Clarke’s finger moves to press gently against it and Clarke must think it was in pain because she pulls her hand back quickly, “sorry.”

“Don’t be.” The husk in her voice causes Clarke to look back at her and realisation of Lexa’s gasp dawns on her. 

She shifts around, hesitancy in her movements as she thumbs the injury again, “you could’ve died.”

Lexa’s small smile is cocky, “but I didn’t.” 

“You might not be so lucky next time. What you did was stupid.”

A hum of agreement leaves Lexa’s throat and she reaches out to stop Clarke’s hand, running her own thumb along the back of it, “maybe. But death is not the end, Clarke. I would do it again.” 

“Did you mean it?” The question is whispered and Lexa knows what Clarke means but she still tilts her head, prompting Clarke to clarify so she doesn’t answer to something Clarke isn’t referring to. “That you’ll tell me everything when it’s over?” Lexa nods. “That you care about me?” 

“You know I do.” 

Clarke moves her hand away and stands up to pour herself a cup of water in the suddenly stifling room, “don’t lie to me again.”

“I won’t.” 

“It hurt me. That you didn’t tell me and part of me still thinks that I just imagined it all. But it hurt. It hurt, Lexa.” She reiterates the word over and over again, as if she’s trying to hit home a point that Lexa has already caught 

Lexa sighs, wiggling around until she’s more comfortable, defeated in any attempt to leave the tent. For now. “That was never my intention, Clarke. I was just trying to keep you safe. There is a reason only a select few know what our animals are.” 

The words thunder in to Clarke then, that this is all actually real. A clearing throat brings them back to reality before Raven timidly steps in the makeshift room, “I’m sorry to interrupt but, Clarke,” she waves a radio, “your mom is on the line.” 

Clarke snatches the radio out of her hand and presses the button to speak, “mom, mom are you okay? What’s going on?” 

“Clarke? We’re fine, there are some serious injuries but no casualties as far as I can see. The Mountain Men infiltrated our connection lines and unbeknown to us, Thelonious was contacting them. We have bigger issues though.”

They all share a look, dreading Abby’s next words before Lexa speaks up, “what is it Abby?”

A sighs crackles through the radio, “they have missiles. Before we put in our coordinates, Jaha told us of their plans to wipe out the Grounders with them, to start fresh as a,” she hesitates and her next word is full of disgust, “civilised race. He said that by extracting our bone marrow, a small sacrifice in their eyes, we would be able to walk the Earth without the fear of death that lingers outside their walls.”

Lexa’s jaw clenches harder at each sentence that passes through Abby’s lips and Clarke places a reassuring hand on her thigh. “And he believed them?” The question goes unanswered. “Why did the Ark split?” 

“Marcus and I went against him, we entered the coordinates before he could stop us and he didn’t have time to convince everyone to join him before the Ark started shutting itself down. He, the rest of the Council and the prison guards ran to his office. There’s an override system in place there, he must’ve used it to redirect.”

“And the other stations?”

“All accounted for except Farm Station.” 

Lexa cuts in, “what the Mountain Men have offered is incredibly tempting. Why did you chose to disobey your leader?” Clarke glares at her but Lexa just looks at her as if to say ‘don’t tell me you weren’t wondering the same thing, that this could be a trap’.

“I trust my daughter, Commander.”

Clarke breathes out in relief at that information and she wants to keep talking to her mother, even if she still wants to hate her, but she knows they need to keep their radio alive, “the Commander has already sent help, a few of our people are with them. They should be there by tomorrow so don’t use the radio unless it’s an emergency. Let us know when you are making your way here.” She closes her eyes, “and, mom? Make sure you get here safe.” She turns the radio off before Abby can talk again, not wanting the chocked sob threatening to leave her throat to be heard.

“Anya, Wells and Orin are currently deciding on a plan,” Raven says and turns to Lexa, “is there anything-”

Lexa holds her hand up, “I already know what Anya will say and tell them I fully support it. I assume she has already sent word for my army?” Raven nods. “It will not be long until I am mobile. Just try to keep the peace between both of our people until then, they can not know I am injured when such a sensitive issue has arisen.” 

Raven nods and takes her leave and this time, Clarke doesn’t stop Lexa when she gets out of the bed. “What is Anya going to say?” Clarke turns as Lexa starts to get dressed.

“She will voice that we should send John Murphy back to them. Let him tell them just how... savage we are and that one of your trusted people-”

“Should escort him,” Clarke finishes in realisation. “You have an army inside those walls just waiting to attack, if we could get Murphy to believe that one of us wants to see you gone just as badly as they do, we can have somebody on the inside to disable the acid fog.” Lexa nods. “But I know Murphy, he won’t do anything that doesn’t benefit him. As soon as he sees the chance, he’ll run.” 

“Then we will not give him that option.” Lexa grunts as she lifts over her top and Clarke turns, watching her struggle in an admittance of running her eyes over the toned body in front of her before she moves to help. 

Lexa freezes as she feels Clarke’s hands on her arms, the fingers gently pulling the top down over her elbows and shoulders, rearranging the hole for her head to fit through comfortably. “I’m still mad at you, I think. I don’t know. There’s a lot going on.” A hum of agreement. “But I get that we need to focus on our people before we focus on ourselves.”

“That is what it means to be a leader, even if we wish that was not the case.” Lexa sounds mournful as she says this, but diverts her gaze and limps over to her sash, buckling it in place over her shoulder with a small grimace. 

“Does it hurt? When you... you know. Does it hurt?”

“The first time is an agony you will never be able to imagine, but the more you shift, the easier it becomes.” 

Clarke bits her lip in thought, “and when you-”

Lexa chuckles, “Clarke.”

“Right yeah. After things have settled. Got it.” 

Entering the Dropship is like a war in itself. Anya and Orin are arguing loudly, Wells is timidly trying to voice his opinion and Raven looks like she needs a large bag of popcorn. “Em pleni.” The room stocks still as Lexa captures it. “Our people are outside almost starting a battle and you are in here acting like branwodas’ when I specifically told Raven that I would agree with what Anya proposes.” She holds up her hand when Orin goes to protest, “I respect your concern, Orin, but we cannot simply wait to see what the Maunon will do. They already have some Sky People from their ambush if John Murphy is telling the truth and now they have more of them to continue their experiments. The missiles that are in their possession are like nothing we have ever seen, only heard of, and I will not risk our time with arguments that will let them use them. Do I make myself clear?” 

The biting words are interrupted as a sheepish Monty comes through the door, stopping still to survey the room. He eyes Orin, his tall muscular body, tanned skin, black hair and deep brown eyes, and shakes his head as he makes his way to the ladder. “How are all the Grounders’ so god damn attractive?” 

His words break the tension in the room and Raven bursts out laughing once he’s out of sight. Clarke blushes. The three not from the sky quirk their brows at Raven’s laughter. “I mean, he’s not wrong.” 

Anya rolls her eyes with a smirk and Lexa clears her throat, “the first thing we need to do is calm our people down. It does not matter what plan we come up with if we do not have everyone one the same page.” She tilts her head at Wells to follow her out before the others bring up the rear and she whispers quietly to him, “out of all of your people, Wells Jaha, you have the biggest decision to make. The Chancellor is your father after all, and standing with me means going against him.”

Wells takes in a long, deep breath and swallows hard, “what he is doing is wrong. We’re free to walk in this air, yet for some reason he has chosen to not only hurt is own people so that a few hundred more can breath out here, but he is willing to kill thousands that he doesn’t even know for something that isn’t guaranteed. I love my dad, but he has stopped looking at the bigger picture in favour of power, he has done so for a while now and I can’t become the person he has. You and your people have taken us in, helped us to not only survive, but live. So in short, Commander, you have my loyalty.” 

Lexa smiles at him, small, unseen unless you were standing close to her and nods her head minutely before she comes to a stop at the top of a hill where she can be seen by all. She waits patiently until she’s noticed and watches as one-by-one the shouting quietens down and she has full attention. “We have come to learn that the Sky People’s Chancellor has made a deal with the Mountain Men.” She address Skaikru with her next words, “your people are being used as experiments so that the Maunon can walk free without suits, that they can breath the same air as us without fear of dying.”

The questions she suspects to be asked are randomly shouted out.

‘What kind of experiments?’

‘Why is that a problem?’

‘Can we go there too?”

‘Why should we care?’

‘Is my mom alive?’

‘Your dad fucking sucks, Wells.’

Okay, so the last one not so much a question. “In return for his... kind... gesture, he has been promised to start a new civilisation. A new civilisation means wiping out all Grounders with missiles.” There’s a bit of ruckus, Lexa’s people wanting to go straight to war now and the Sky People selfishly asking if they leave will they be safe. “I know that might not mean much to those from the sky, but remember, Thelonious Jaha is the one that sent you down here to die. Thelonious Jaha is the one that killed your families for minor, petty crimes,” she locks eyes with Clarke to see her hold back a tear, “Thelonious Jaha is not to be trusted. The Mountain Men are not to be trusted. They will kill anyone who is not their own and once they have what they want from you, I assure you they will kill your people too.”

‘She’s right, bro. He floated my mom for stealing bread.’

‘Yeah and like, these people are kind of like our friends now right?’

‘Totally man, I didn’t even know how to build tent before and now we have our own place.’

‘We don’t know the people in Mount Weather, why should we give a shit if they can walk out here or not?’

‘But, what if my mom is with him?’

Clarke shouts up next, “the only ones who went to Mount Weather was your Chancellor, the Council minus Abigail Griffin and Marcus Kane and your guards. The rest of the stations except Farm Station are together and we will send out scouts to look for them as soon as we have the bodies to do so. I’ve already spoken with my mother and there are no casualties. Those of you that are waiting on family, they will be here in a few days.”

“I know this is confusing,” Wells takes over, “that we basically have the choice to trust people in Mount Weather who we don’t know, or trust those that have helped us, taught us and befriended us this past week, but I promise you that if we all stick together through this, putting our trust and allegiance in the Commander is our best chance at survival and at the end of the day, that’s what we do as the human race. Survive. We aren’t here to be experimented on, taking our bone marrow, a procedure that is needed time and time again, an extremely painful procedure that if done too many times, will leave you without your own and could possibly kill you,” a few who understand the impactions of the pain that will cause wince, “we’re here to live and as long as we can unite as one, we can reach that goal.” 

Cheers holler through the crowd and Lexa turns to Wells with a smirk, “impressive. Now we need to keep this spirit alive while we discuss and finalise a plan. We have until morning when my army gets here, and the others should arrive roughly the same time as the rest of your people. Let’s give them something to fight, shall we?”


	13. A/N

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's note (I know  yikes.)

Quick update for you all.

Sorry this is taking me so long. I've been torn between a few different directions to take this and I can't settle on what I want. 

Also, I'm still in need of a new laptop and it's a bit harder since I use Trigedasleng in this and need the multiple tabs and yada yada. 

I am in no way never updating this again. I will update and I will complete! I just don't know when because not being able to make that decision and lack of technology just has me a little 'meh' and a little unenthused. 

Sorry.

Failing that... blame the ADHD haha.


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